Sensient Technologies Corporation (SXT) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Sensient Technologies Corporation 2026 first-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

早安，歡迎參加 Sensient Technologies Corporation 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）請注意，本活動將被錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Tobin Tornehl. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想將會議交給 Tobin Tornehl 先生。先生，請開始。

Great. Thank you. Good morning. Welcome to Sensient's earnings call for the first quarter of 2026. I'm Tobin Tornehl, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sensient Technologies Corporation. I'm joined today by Paul Manning, Sensient's Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.

好的。謝謝。早安。歡迎參加 Sensient 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。我是 Tobin Tornehl，Sensient Technologies Corporation 副總裁兼財務長。今天與我一同出席的還有 Sensient 董事長、總裁暨執行長 Paul Manning。

Earlier today, we released our 2026 first-quarter results. A copy of the earnings release and the slides we'll be using during today's call are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at sensient.com.

今天稍早，我們已發布 2026 年第一季業績。一份新聞稿以及我們在今日電話會議中將使用的簡報投影片，可於我們網站 sensient.com 的投資人關係（Investor Relations）專區取得。

During our call today, we will reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, which remove the impact of currency movements, cost of the company's portfolio optimization plan, and other items as noted in the company's filings.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將提及若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，該等指標排除匯率變動影響、公司投資組合最佳化計畫成本，以及公司申報文件中所註明的其他項目之影響。

We believe the removal of these items provides investors with additional information to evaluate the company's performance and improve the comparability of results between reporting periods. This also reflects how management reviews and evaluate the company's operations and performance.

我們相信，排除這些項目可為投資人提供額外資訊，以評估公司的表現並提升不同報導期間結果的可比性。這也反映管理階層檢視與評估公司營運與績效的方式。

Non-GAAP financial results should not be considered in isolation from, or a substitute for, financial information calculated in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is available in our press release and slides. We encourage investors to review these reconciliations in connection with the comments we make today.

非 GAAP 財務結果不應被單獨看待，亦不應取代依 GAAP 計算之財務資訊。非 GAAP 財務衡量指標與最直接可比之 GAAP 財務衡量指標的調節表，已載於我們的新聞稿與投影片中。我們鼓勵投資人結合我們今天的評論一併檢視這些調節表。

I'd also like to find everyone that comments made during this call, including responses to your questions, may include forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied due to a wide range of factors, including those set forth in our SEC filings.

我也想提醒各位，本次電話會議中的發言（包括對各位提問的回覆）可能包含前瞻性陳述。由於多項因素，我們的實際結果可能與明示或暗示的內容有重大差異，包括我們向 SEC 申報文件中所列之因素。

We urge you to read Sensient's previous SEC filings, including our 10-K and our forthcoming 10-Q for a description of additional factors that could potentially impact our financial results. Please keep these factors in mind when you analyze our comments today.

我們敦促各位閱讀 Sensient 先前向 SEC 提交的申報文件，包括我們的 10-K 以及即將提交的 10-Q，以了解可能影響我們財務結果的其他因素之說明。請在分析我們今天的評論時將這些因素納入考量。

We'll start on slide 5 of the deck. Now we'll hear from Paul.

我們將從簡報第 5 頁開始。接下來請 Paul 發言。

Thanks, Tobin. Good morning, good afternoon. Earlier today, we reported our first quarter results. We've gotten off to a very strong start to 2026, delivering 7% local currency revenue growth, 10% local currency adjusted EBITDA growth, and 14% local currency adjusted EPS growth. These results exceeded our early expectations and position us nicely for the year.

謝謝，Tobin。各位早安、午安。今天稍早，我們公布了第一季業績。我們在 2026 年有一個非常強勁的開局，實現以當地貨幣計算的營收成長 7%、以當地貨幣計算的調整後 EBITDA 成長 10%，以及以當地貨幣計算的調整後 EPS 成長 14%。這些結果超出我們年初的預期，並使我們在今年的表現具備良好基礎。

We continue to have particularly strong results from the Color Group, which delivered 12.3% local currency revenue growth and 13.2% local currency operating profit growth.

我們的 Color Group 持續展現特別強勁的成果，以當地貨幣計算的營收成長 12.3%，以當地貨幣計算的營業利益成長 13.2%。

Commercial activity around natural color conversions continues to be very strong and the momentum is building. Flavors & Extracts Group also had a solid quarter, delivering 1.7% low currency revenue growth and local currency operating profit growth of 5.1%. Asia Pacific Group contributed local currency revenue growth of 4.7% and local currency operating profit growth of 14.5%. Each of our groups has had a nice start to the year.

圍繞天然色素轉換的商業活動仍然非常強勁，動能持續增強。Flavors & Extracts Group 第一季表現也穩健，以當地貨幣計算的營收成長 1.7%，以當地貨幣計算的營業利益成長 5.1%。Asia Pacific Group 貢獻以當地貨幣計算的營收成長 4.7%，以及以當地貨幣計算的營業利益成長 14.5%。我們各事業群在今年都有良好的開局。

During the first quarter, we generated strong new sales wins across each of our groups and our sales pipelines continue to grow to support our revenue expectations. While we are seeing particularly high win rates in natural colors, our innovative product portfolio is also fueling success in each of our other businesses.

第一季期間，我們在各事業群都取得強勁的新案得標，我們的銷售管線也持續成長，以支撐我們對營收的預期。雖然我們在天然色素方面的得標率特別高，但我們具創新性的產品組合也正推動其他各項業務的成功。

Our customer service levels remain exceptionally high. And despite a sluggish overall food market in many geographies, we believe we are well positioned to continue our sales wins success. As I mentioned on previous calls, the preparations for the wholesale conversion of synthetic colors to natural colors in the United States remains our priority and current strategic focus.

我們的客戶服務水準仍維持在極高水準。儘管許多地區整體食品市場仍顯疲弱，我們相信自身具備良好條件，能持續延續新案得標的成功。如同我在先前電話會議中提到的，美國將合成色素全面轉換為天然色素的準備工作仍是我們的優先事項與目前的策略重點。

We are not seeing any slowdown in conversion activity and I will reaffirm what I previously stated that the US conversion to natural colors is the single largest opportunity in Sensient's history. We are continuing investments around the world to increase our production capacity and to optimize our product portfolio.

我們未看到轉換活動有任何放緩，我也再次重申我先前所說：美國轉換至天然色素是 Sensient 歷史上最大的單一機會。我們正持續在全球投資，以提升產能並最佳化產品組合。

We also are building -- continuing to build a resilient supply chain to provide the botanicals necessary to produce natural colors and to support the needs of our customers in alignment with their launch dates. These investments will support and position us for our $1 billion natural color sales goal.

我們也正在建立——並持續建立——具韌性的供應鏈，以提供生產天然色素所需的植物原料，並配合客戶的上市時程來支援其需求。這些投資將支撐並使我們朝向天然色素銷售額 10 億美元的目標邁進。

To advance further with customers on application support, they are also confirming that while natural colors may cost more than synthetic options, the cost impact remains manageable since natural colors are still a relatively small part of overall ingredient costs in most product categories.

為了在應用支援方面與客戶更進一步推進，他們也確認，雖然天然色素可能比合成選項成本更高，但由於在多數產品類別中天然色素仍僅占整體配料成本相對小的一部分，因此其成本影響仍在可控範圍內。

First quarter had no shortage of newsworthy developments in trade, tariffs, and geopolitics. We are continually monitoring these situations, but would like to provide some information around the conflict in Iran. We do not have any significant operations in the Middle East, and we are working to mitigate any potential supply chain risks that may result from the overall increase in fuel and certain commodity prices.

第一季在貿易、關稅與地緣政治方面不乏值得關注的發展。我們持續監控這些情勢，但也希望就伊朗衝突提供一些資訊。我們在中東並無任何重大營運據點，且我們正致力於降低因燃料與部分大宗商品價格整體上升而可能產生的供應鏈風險。

In past circumstances like COVID and the invasion of Ukraine by the Russians, we have proven our ability to adjust prices where necessary and to minimize our financial impact and any major disruptions to our customers. This continues to be my expectation with the war in Iran.

在過去如 COVID 以及俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭等情況下，我們已證明有能力在必要時調整價格，並將對財務的影響及對客戶的重大干擾降至最低。對於伊朗戰事，我仍預期會是如此。

Now turning to slide 6 and our group results. Color Group had an excellent first quarter, delivering 12.3% local currency revenue growth and 13.2% in local currency operating profit growth.

接著看投影片第 6 頁與各事業群表現。Color Group 第一季表現非常出色，以當地貨幣計算的營收成長 12.3%，以當地貨幣計算的營業利益成長 13.2%。

The group's first quarter adjusted EBITDA margin was 24.4%, flat to prior year despite our increased investments in support of the natural color conversion opportunity. The group continues to sell technically differentiated products, control its costs, execute on pricing strategy, and deliver quality new wins.

該事業群第一季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 24.4%，儘管我們加大投資以支援天然色素轉換機會，但與去年同期持平。該事業群持續銷售具技術差異化的產品、控管成本、執行定價策略，並取得高品質的新案得標。

We are starting to see an uptick in customer orders for conversion of their synthetically colored products in the US and the pipeline to $1 billion continues to look very promising. I now expect the Color Group to deliver double-digit local currency revenue growth in 2026. Previously, I expected high-single to double-digit growth. I continue to expect the natural color conversion sales to build as the year progresses.

我們開始看到美國客戶針對其含合成色素產品轉換的訂單增加，而通往 10 億美元的管線仍顯得非常有希望。我現在預期 Color Group 在 2026 年將實現以當地貨幣計算的雙位數營收成長。先前我預期為高個位數至雙位數成長。我仍預期天然色素轉換相關銷售將隨著年度推進而逐步增長。

As the sales build, I expect profit leverage to improve as well. Profit leverage in Q2 and Q3 for the Color Group will be similar to the relationship in Q1. Overall, the Color Group got off to a tremendous start to 2026 and remains on a great trajectory, and I'm very excited about the future ahead of us.

隨著銷售增加，我也預期獲利槓桿將同步改善。Color Group 在第二季與第三季的獲利槓桿，將與第一季的關係相近。整體而言，Color Group 在 2026 年有一個極佳的開局，並持續走在非常好的軌道上；我對未來發展感到非常振奮。

Turning to slide 7. Flavors & Extracts Group saw local currency revenue growth in the first quarter of 1.7% and an increased local currency operating profit growth of 5.1%. The group's adjusted EBITDA margin was 17.2%, up 30 basis points versus the prior year's comparable quarter.

接著看投影片第 7 頁。Flavors & Extracts Group 第一季以當地貨幣計算的營收成長 1.7%，以當地貨幣計算的營業利益成長 5.1%。該事業群調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 17.2%，較去年同期上升 30 個基點。

The results exceeded our expectations in the first quarter. The group continues to optimize its cost and focus on new and defensible flavor wins, and these factors have fueled the favorable profit leverage. Overall, we expect Q2 to be similar to Q1 with strengthening revenue and profit performance as we move through 2026.

第一季結果超出我們的預期。該事業群持續最佳化成本，並聚焦於新的且具防禦性的風味產品得標，這些因素推動了有利的獲利槓桿。整體而言，我們預期第二季將與第一季相近，並在 2026 年推進過程中，營收與獲利表現將逐步轉強。

Now turning to slide 8. Asia Pacific Group had a nice rebound in the first quarter, delivering 4.7% local currency revenue growth and 14.5% local currency operating profit growth. The group's adjusted EBITDA margin was 26.1%, up 220 basis points versus the prior year's first quarter.

接著看投影片第 8 頁。Asia Pacific Group 第一季出現良好反彈，以當地貨幣計算的營收成長 4.7%，以當地貨幣計算的營業利益成長 14.5%。該事業群調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 26.1%，較去年第一季上升 220 個基點。

Overall, the Asia Pacific Group got off to a substantially faster start than we anticipated and is set up nicely for the future. The regional demand constraints that the group has experienced over the last few quarters improved in Q1. Plus, we generated strong new sales wins. Pending resolution of the Iran war, I continue to expect improvement throughout the year with greater sales and profit improvement in the back half of 2026.

整體而言，Asia Pacific Group 的開局速度明顯快於我們的預期，並為未來奠定良好基礎。該事業群過去幾季所面臨的區域需求限制在第一季有所改善。此外，我們也取得強勁的新案得標。在伊朗戰事獲得解決之前提下，我仍預期全年將持續改善，且 2026 年下半年銷售與獲利改善幅度將更為明顯。

Now turning to slide 9. Regarding our full year guidance, we are increasing our local currency ranges for the year. We now expect our local currency revenue to be up high single to double digits. Our previous guidance was for mid-single to double digits. We now expect local currency adjusted EBITDA and EPS to grow at high single to double-digit rates.

現在轉到第 9 張投影片。關於我們的全年指引，我們正在上調本年度以當地貨幣計的區間。我們目前預期以當地貨幣計的營收將成長高個位數至雙位數百分比。先前的指引為中個位數至雙位數。我們現在預期以當地貨幣計的調整後 EBITDA 與 EPS 將以高個位數至雙位數的幅度成長。

Our previous guidance called for mid-single digit to double-digit local currency adjusted EBITDA growth and mid-single to high single-digit local currency adjusted EPS growth. On the capital allocation front, we still expect consolidated capital expenditures of $150 million to $170 million in 2026 to ensure that we are prepared for the forthcoming natural color conversion activity and that we can achieve our $1 billion sales goal.

我們先前的指引為：以當地貨幣計的調整後 EBITDA 成長中個位數至雙位數，以及以當地貨幣計的調整後 EPS 成長中個位數至高個位數。在資本配置方面，我們仍預期 2026 年合併資本支出為 1.5 億至 1.7 億美元，以確保我們為即將到來的天然色素轉換活動做好準備，並能達成 10 億美元的銷售目標。

As I mentioned last quarter, we expect to spend between $225 million and $250 million on natural color capital over the next couple of years. We continue to anticipate an increase in our natural color working capital and maintain our goal of significantly improving our ROIC to the mid-teens over the next few years. Beyond capital expenditures, we will continually evaluate sensible acquisition opportunities, but we do not anticipate any share buybacks at this time.

如我在上季所提到的，我們預期未來幾年在天然色素相關資本支出將介於 2.25 億至 2.5 億美元。我們仍預期天然色素營運資金將增加，並維持在未來幾年將 ROIC 顯著提升至 10% 中段（mid-teens）的目標。除資本支出外，我們將持續評估合理的併購機會，但目前不預期進行任何庫藏股回購。

Now before I turn the call over to Tobin, I'd like to provide some information on a couple of our innovative technologies. Shown on slide 10 is some information about two of our popular natural color platforms. Avalanche is a global portfolio of clean label alternatives to titanium dioxide.

在我把電話會議交給 Tobin 之前，我想先提供一些關於我們幾項創新技術的資訊。第 10 張投影片展示了我們兩個受歡迎的天然色素平台的相關資訊。Avalanche 是一個全球性的潔淨標示（clean label）二氧化鈦替代方案產品組合。

We're also showing a range of extrusion-stable natural colors that are ideal for use in production processes utilizing high heat or pressure. Titanium dioxide is a whitening agent commonly used in baked goods, frostings, confections, and makeup applications. In recent years, there has been a growing demand from our customers to remove titanium dioxide from their products. This demand has been driven by bands or regulation changes across the globe.

我們也展示了一系列耐擠壓（extrusion-stable）的天然色素，非常適合用於採用高溫或高壓的生產製程。二氧化鈦是一種增白劑，常用於烘焙食品、糖霜、糖果以及彩妝應用。近年來，客戶對於將二氧化鈦自其產品中移除的需求日益增加。這項需求是由全球各地的禁令或法規變更所推動。

It's quite difficult to replace TiO2 due to its exceptional performance characteristics and cost effectiveness. Our Avalanche portfolio addresses the market need for bright, white products and is designed to best match the performance of titanium dioxide. The portfolio is robust and continues to grow as new technical application challenges arise.

由於 TiO2 具備卓越的性能特性與成本效益，因此要取代它相當困難。我們的 Avalanche 產品組合回應市場對明亮、潔白產品的需求，並以盡可能貼近二氧化鈦的表現為設計目標。該產品組合相當強健，且隨著新的技術應用挑戰出現而持續擴充。

Next, I'd like to highlight our extrusion-stable natural color offerings. They have been developed for maximum stability and performance in high heat or pressure process. For example, extrusion is commonly used to make breakfast cereals.

接下來，我想強調我們的耐擠壓天然色素產品。它們是為了在高溫或高壓製程中達到最大的穩定性與性能而開發的。例如，擠壓製程常用於製作早餐穀片。

Several large retailers and CPG companies have made announcements about their commitment to rapidly remove synthetic dyes from this category and, therefore, remains a priority for us. If you'd like more information on any of our natural color technologies, please visit our website.

多家大型零售商與 CPG（消費性包裝商品）公司已宣布承諾要迅速將此品類中的合成色素移除，因此這仍是我們的優先事項。若您想了解更多關於我們任何天然色素技術的資訊，請造訪我們的網站。

Since 2019, the company's local currency adjusted revenue compounded annual growth rate is approximately 6%. Our growth in the first quarter is above that historical rate, and I'm quite pleased with the trajectory we are on for 2026 and beyond. I'm excited about the growth opportunities within each of our groups. Our pipeline for natural color conversions continues to build, and I'm pleased with our progress toward our overall revenue goal.

自 2019 年以來，公司以當地貨幣計的調整後營收複合年成長率約為 6%。我們第一季的成長高於該歷史水準，我對我們邁向 2026 年及更長遠未來的發展軌跡感到非常滿意。我對各事業群的成長機會感到振奮。我們的天然色素轉換案源（pipeline）持續累積，我也很高興看到我們朝整體營收目標的進展。

We believe long-term investors are well positioned to benefit substantially from our execution. We will continue to emphasize investment in research and development, production capacity, and a resilient supply chain in order to be ready to support our customers.

我們相信長期投資人將能因我們的執行而獲得可觀的收益。我們將持續強調對研發、產能與具韌性的供應鏈的投資，以便隨時準備好支援客戶。

The growth we are experiencing is a direct result of the execution of our long-term strategy seizing the opportunities in the markets in which we operate. I remain optimistic about 2026 in the future of our business.

我們目前所經歷的成長，直接來自於我們執行長期策略、把握所營運市場中的機會。我對 2026 年以及公司業務的未來仍保持樂觀。

Tobin will now provide you with additional details on the first-quarter results.

接下來 Tobin 將為各位提供第一季業績的更多細節。

Thank you, Paul. In my comments this morning, I'll be explaining the differences between our GAAP results and our non-GAAP adjusted results. The adjusted results for 2025 remove the cost of the portfolio optimization plan.

謝謝你，Paul。今天早上的說明中，我將解釋我們 GAAP 結果與非 GAAP 調整後結果之間的差異。2025 年的調整後結果排除了產品組合優化計畫的成本。

While we do not have any portfolio optimization plan costs in our 2026 first-quarter results, we believe that the removal of these prior year cost produces a clear comparative picture of the company's performance for investors. This also reflects how management reviews the company's operations and performance.

雖然我們 2026 年第一季結果中並沒有任何產品組合優化計畫成本，但我們認為移除前一年度的這些成本，能為投資人提供公司表現更清晰的可比圖像。這也反映了管理階層檢視公司營運與績效的方式。

Turning to slide 12. Sensient's revenue was $435.8 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared to $392.3 million in last year's first quarter. Operating income was $66.7 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared to $53.5 million of income in the comparable period last year.

轉到第 12 張投影片。Sensient 2026 年第一季營收為 4.358 億美元，去年第一季為 3.923 億美元。2026 年第一季營業利益為 6,670 萬美元，去年同期為 5,350 萬美元。

Operating income in the first quarter of 2025 included $2.9 million, approximately $0.05 per share of portfolio optimization plan costs. Excluding the cost of the portfolio optimization plan in the prior year, adjusted operating income was up 12.2% in local currency in the first quarter of 2026 compared to $56.4 million in the prior year period.

2025 年第一季的營業利益包含 290 萬美元、約每股 0.05 美元的產品組合優化計畫成本。排除前一年產品組合優化計畫成本後，2026 年第一季以當地貨幣計的調整後營業利益較前一年同期的 5,640 萬美元成長 12.2%。

Interest expense was $7.9 million in the first quarter of 2026, up from $7.3 million in the first quarter of 2025. The company's consolidated adjusted tax rate was 24.9% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to 25.3% in the comparable period of 2025. Local currency adjusted EBITDA was up 10.4% in the first quarter of 2026. Foreign currency translation had approximately a $0.06 benefit on EPS in the first quarter of 2026.

2026 年第一季利息費用為 790 萬美元，高於 2025 年第一季的 730 萬美元。公司合併調整後稅率在 2026 年第一季為 24.9%，相較 2025 年同期為 25.3%。2026 年第一季以當地貨幣計的調整後 EBITDA 成長 10.4%。外幣換算在 2026 年第一季對 EPS 約有 0.06 美元的正面貢獻。

Turning to slide 13. Cash flow used in operations was $14 million in the first quarter of 2026. Capital expenditures were $29 million in the first quarter, and as Paul indicated, we continue to anticipate our capital expenditures to be between $150 million and $170 million for the full year of 2026. Our net debt to credit adjusted EBITDA is 2.4 times as of March 31, 2026.

轉到第 13 張投影片。2026 年第一季營運活動使用的現金流為 1,400 萬美元。第一季資本支出為 2,900 萬美元；如 Paul 所指出，我們仍預期 2026 年全年資本支出介於 1.5 億至 1.7 億美元。截至 2026 年 3 月 31 日，我們的淨負債對信用調整後 EBITDA 倍數為 2.4 倍。

As we communicated last quarter, we expect higher investments in inventory throughout the year to prepare for increased natural color conversion revenue. That is expected to increase further with our leverage ratio entering the upper 2s later in the year.

如同我們上季所溝通的，我們預期全年將提高庫存投資，以為增加的天然色素轉換營收做準備。隨著我們的槓桿比率在今年稍晚進入 2 倍後段（upper 2s），這項投資預期還會進一步增加。

Overall, our balance sheet remains well positioned to support our capital expenditures, sensible acquisition opportunities, and our long-standing dividend. As Paul indicated, we continue to invest in our natural color production capabilities and capacity. These investments will remain elevated for the next few years, and we expect to drive favorable volume and profit growth for years to come.

整體而言，我們的資產負債表仍具備良好條件，可支應資本支出、合理的併購機會，以及我們長期以來的股利政策。如 Paul 所指出，我們持續投資於天然色素的生產能力與產能。這些投資在未來幾年仍將維持在較高水準，我們預期將在未來多年帶動有利的銷量與獲利成長。

Turning to slide 14, revisiting our 2026 guidance. Based on our first-quarter results, we now expect our local currency revenue to be up high single to double digits. Our previous guidance was for mid-single to double digits. We now expect local currency adjusted EBITDA and EPS to grow at a high-single to double-digit rate.

轉到第 14 張投影片，重新檢視我們的 2026 年指引。基於第一季結果，我們現在預期以當地貨幣計的營收將成長高個位數至雙位數百分比。先前的指引為中個位數至雙位數。我們現在預期以當地貨幣計的調整後 EBITDA 與 EPS 將以高個位數至雙位數的幅度成長。

Our previous guidance called for mid-single to double-digit local currency adjusted EBITDA growth and mid-single to high single-digit local currency adjusted EPS growth. We continue to expect acceleration in revenue and EBITDA growth in the second half of the year.

我們先前的指引為：以當地貨幣計的調整後 EBITDA 成長中個位數至雙位數，以及以當地貨幣計的調整後 EPS 成長中個位數至高個位數。我們仍預期下半年營收與 EBITDA 成長將加速。

We expect our second-quarter interest expense to be approximately $9 million and we expect our second-quarter adjusted tax rate to be approximately 25%. Based on current exchange rates, we still expect the impact of currency on EPS to be immaterial for the year.

我們預期第二季利息費用約為 900 萬美元，第二季調整後稅率約為 25%。以目前匯率來看，我們仍預期匯率對全年 EPS 的影響不具重大性。

Thank you for participating in the call today. We'll now open the call up for questions.

感謝各位今天參與本次電話會議。接下來我們將開放提問。

(Operator Instructions) Ghansham Panjabi, Baird.

（接線員指示）Ghansham Panjabi，Baird。

Hey. guys. Good morning.

嗨，各位。早安。

Hey, Ghansham.

嗨，Ghansham。

Good morning.

早安。

Good morning. Paul, it sounded like the first quarter came in better than you thought. Just maybe give us a bit more color, a pun intended, I guess, on what drove that? Was there just faster conversions of customers? Was there a bigger contribution from load-in benefit as it relates to inventory build, et cetera? Just give us a bit more perspective on that.

早安，Paul。聽起來第一季表現比你原先預期更好。能否再多給我們一些「色彩」上的補充（我想這算是個雙關語），說明是什麼因素帶動的？是客戶轉換更快嗎？還是與庫存建立相關的提前備貨（load-in）效益貢獻更大，等等？請再多給我們一些觀點。

Well, the simple answer is we got more wins than we thought. Not only natural color wins in the general business, the base business, but also more natural color conversions than I had anticipated. So that would be one. I think we saw a nice set of wins out of Asia Pacific. And in addition to that, we didn't see as much of that tariff distortions that I was concerned about on the last call. So that ultimately moderated a bit as well.

嗯，簡單的答案是，我們拿到的贏單比原先預期更多。不僅是在整體業務、也就是基本盤業務中的天然色素贏單增加，而且天然色素的轉換量也比我預期的更多。所以這是一點。我認為我們在亞太地區也看到一組不錯的贏單。此外，我們也沒有看到像我在上次電話會議中所擔心的那麼多關稅扭曲。因此最終那方面也有所緩和。

And then in Flavors, again, new wins, I think was the driving factor there. And price is on the low single-digit side of that 7% overall consolidated revenue. That came in in line with what I had anticipated. But yeah, the short answer is wins.

然後在香精香料（Flavors）方面，同樣地，新贏單我認為是主要驅動因素。至於價格，在整體合併營收7%的增長中，價格貢獻大約是低個位數百分比，這與我原先的預期一致。但對，簡短的答案就是：贏單。

Perfect. And then it relates to the cadence of growth in that segment as the year unfolds. I mean, obviously, a very strong start to 1Q. You don't have full control in terms of business wins, et cetera, but presumably, you have some view on backlog, et cetera. How should we think about the cadence of that as it relates to 2Q through 4Q specific to your overall guidance for that segment?

很好。接著談到該事業部門在今年展開過程中的成長節奏。我的意思是，1Q 顯然開局非常強勁。你們對於贏單等並沒有完全的控制權，但推測你們對在手訂單等應該有一些掌握。就該部門的整體指引而言，我們應該如何看待 2Q 到 4Q 的成長節奏？

Well, I think overall, Q2 will look pretty similar to, in fact, in each of the groups. I'd like to see a little bit more top line out of Flavor. You'll see that in Q2 and as we go through the year. But yeah, I think there'll be some on the Color Group side of things.

我想整體而言，Q2 看起來會相當類似，事實上在各個事業群都是如此。我希望在香精香料（Flavor）這邊能看到更多一些的營收成長；你會在 Q2 以及接下來的年度進程中看到。但對，我認為在色素事業群（Color Group）那邊也會是類似的情況。

Barring some unforeseen larger conversions than I would tell you -- that I see right now, Q2 should look a lot like Q1. And then, of course, we would expect to see more and more of this building as we get into the back half of this year and certainly as we get into 2027.

除非出現一些我現在看不到、比預期更大的轉換，否則 Q2 應該會很像 Q1。然後當然，我們預期隨著進入今年下半年，這些動能會越來越明顯，尤其是進入 2027 年時更是如此。

I think right now, with customers, many of them are getting into the phase of, okay, they've done a lot of the reformulation work, if not all of the reformulation work. And then it's a matter of getting the rest of their ducks in a row, whether it's consumer test marketing, regulatory reviews, aligning their production plans, scaling up these products, preparing for their eventual production of the natural colors.

我認為目前客戶多數正進入一個階段：好，他們已經完成了大量的配方重整工作，甚至可能已經全部完成。接下來就是把其他事項都安排到位，不論是消費者測試行銷、法規審查、對齊生產計畫、把這些產品放大到量產規模，以及為最終導入天然色素的生產做準備。

I think now we're getting into the phase where we may get a little bit more clarity from some on launch dates. But I think here, again, the short answer, Q2 will look a lot like Q1. Q2 will look fairly similar to Q2 and Q1, but I think Q4 is where you'll see perhaps a more decided inflection point in natural colors. But I think ultimately, for the year, yeah, we feel really good about where we are for each of the groups in terms of what they should deliver.

我想現在我們正進入一個階段，可能會從部分客戶那裡得到更清楚的上市時程。但我認為這裡同樣，簡短的答案是：Q2 會很像 Q1。Q2 會與 Q2 和 Q1 相當接近，但我認為 Q4 可能會看到天然色素更明顯的拐點。不過整體來看，就今年而言，是的，我們對各事業群在交付表現上所處的位置感到非常有信心。

Okay. And then just one final one. On the TiO2 opportunity set, can you frame that for us as it relates to how big that is in terms of the addressable market, et cetera? And is that part of the $1 billion sales threshold that you're focused on in terms of natural colors? Or is that separate from that? Thank you.

好的。最後一個問題。關於二氧化鈦（TiO2）的機會集合，你能否就其可服務市場規模等幫我們框架一下？另外，這是否屬於你們聚焦的天然色素 10 億美元銷售門檻的一部分？還是與那個目標分開計算？謝謝。

Yeah, that's a great question, Ghansham. Titanium dioxide, I would tell you that that may be the single most challenging program. But the irony of that is titanium dioxide, from a regulatory standpoint, is actually considered natural colors. So I hadn't contemplated that in the $1 billion, but if I'm getting the $980 million, I need a little push over the edge, I may count that one, but I'll let you know about that.

是的，這是個很好的問題，Ghansham。二氧化鈦，我會告訴你，這可能是單一最具挑戰性的專案。但諷刺的是，從法規角度來看，二氧化鈦其實被視為天然色素。所以我原本沒有把它納入那 10 億美元的計算，但如果我做到 9.8 億美元、需要再推一把跨過門檻，我可能會把這個算進去，不過到時我再跟你說。

But no, I think this is one of those that -- and you'll see more and more of this, too, right? As you convert to natural colors, there will be the next wave of regulatory expectations, right? So titanium dioxide is one of them.

但不，我認為這是其中一個——而且你也會看到越來越多這種情況，對吧？當你轉向天然色素時，接下來會有下一波的法規期待，對吧？二氧化鈦就是其中之一。

We've been working on this for a number of years. This came out really, Europe was first in decrying the use of titanium dioxide, not only in food products, but also personal care products. And then the US has followed in the wake of that.

我們已經在這上面投入了好幾年。這件事最早是從歐洲開始，率先反對使用二氧化鈦，不僅是在食品產品中，也包括個人護理產品。之後美國也跟進了這個趨勢。

It's -- I would say it's a conversion that's a little bit more in its infancy compared to the broader based natural color conversion. But no, I think this could be a nice add-on, but I have not factored that into the $1 billion.

我會說，與更廣泛的天然色素轉換相比，這項轉換還比較處於早期階段。但不，我認為這可能是一個不錯的加值項目，只是我尚未把它納入那 10 億美元的計算。

Got it. Thanks so much and congrats on the progress.

了解。非常感謝，也恭喜你們的進展。

Yeah. Thank you.

是的，謝謝。

Josh Spector, UBS.

UBS 的 Josh Spector。

Yeah. Hi. Good morning. I wanted to follow up --

是的，嗨，早安。我想追問一下——

Good morning, Josh.

早安，Josh。

Hey. Good morning. Just on the Colors growth, I'd just be curious, where is your confidence at today versus three months ago around the timeline? I mean, a lot of investors are concerned that things could slip because your customers will be facing a lot of cost pressures in different areas.

嗨，早安。就色素（Colors）的成長而言，我想了解一下，你們目前對時程的信心，相較三個月前如何？我的意思是，很多投資人擔心事情可能會延後，因為你們的客戶在不同領域都面臨不少成本壓力。

So obviously, 1Q was good. You're talking about new wins, but the stuff you thought would convert and move in the second half, is that going faster or slower? Like any details there to help us understand the cadence would be helpful.

所以 1Q 顯然表現不錯。你提到有新贏單，但你原本認為會在下半年轉換、推進的那些項目，是變快了還是變慢了？任何細節若能幫助我們理解節奏都會很有幫助。

Josh, I pay attention to the timeline very much the macro level, right? The expectation -- there are two really key dates here that I think the market has been moving towards January 1, 2027, which is essentially the Walmart deadline for having natural colors and its brand names throughout its stores in the US.

Josh，我非常關注時程，但主要是從宏觀層面來看，對吧？我認為這裡有兩個非常關鍵的日期，市場一直在朝向 2027 年 1 月 1 日推進，這基本上是沃爾瑪（Walmart）的期限：其在美國門市內的自有品牌都要採用天然色素。

And then the other noteworthy time frame that folks have been honing in on a January 1, 2028. So I think largely, customers remain on track with those. I'm very exceedingly confident. I think my confidence where was with versus three months ago, I'm still very confident.

另一個值得注意、大家也一直聚焦的時間點是 2028 年 1 月 1 日。我認為整體而言，客戶大多仍按這些時程在走。我非常、非常有信心。我對時程的信心相較三個月前——我仍然非常有信心。

I don't see -- I talked to a lot of customers. We're dealing with just about any customer you've heard of, you could say. We got a vast pipeline across big customers, middle-sized customers, and small ones. And so we can say this with a great deal of authority. There is no slowdown at any of these customers. And there is no deviation from, well, maybe I won't do this, maybe I will, said by no one that I've interacted with in the last six months.

我沒有看到——我和很多客戶交流。我們幾乎在服務你聽過的任何客戶都可以這麼說。我們在大型客戶、中型客戶與小型客戶之間都有非常龐大的管線。因此我們可以很有權威地說：這些客戶沒有任何放緩。也沒有任何偏離——像是「也許我不做了、也許我會做」——在過去六個月我接觸過的人裡，沒有人這麼說。

And so I think that the organizations are committed. You can go to the FDA website. I think there's a couple of dozen household names that have pledged this already on the FDA and to the American public that they will do this. So yeah, I continue to remain very confident.

所以我認為這些組織是承諾要做的。你可以去 FDA 的網站看，我想已經有幾十個家喻戶曉的品牌在 FDA 上、也對美國大眾公開承諾他們會這麼做。所以，是的，我仍然非常有信心。

Now what is the precise distribution of do we get 5% this month and 8% in the next month. Yeah, that one's a little bit harder and quite frankly, possibly even unknowable to a large degree. But I think that customers are honing in on their launch date.

至於精確的分布——我們這個月拿到 5%，下個月拿到 8% 嗎？是的，那個就比較難，而且坦白說，在很大程度上甚至可能是不可知的。但我認為客戶正在逐步鎖定他們的上市日期。

Bear in mind that some of these brands have dozens, if not more than 100 products that they're attempting to convert. That's a massive undertaking. These are all new launches. They require new packaging. They require new formulation, production scale-up. In some cases, customers need to implement capital in their plants to process it differently.

請記住，其中一些品牌有數十個、甚至超過 100 個產品要轉換。那是一項非常龐大的工程。這些都等同於新上市。需要新的包裝，需要新的配方，需要量產放大。在某些情況下，客戶還需要在工廠投入資本支出，以不同方式來加工處理。

So a lot of moving parts. So customers aren't being reluctant and they're not well. Maybe I'm not going to do this. No, they need to do it right and that takes time. And so we should not expect some massive conversion in these very early days.

所以有很多變動因素。客戶並不是猶豫，也不是說「嗯，也許我不做了」。不是的，他們需要把事情做對，而這需要時間。因此在這些非常早期的階段，我們不應期待出現某種大規模的轉換。

I think we're pacing very much at the pace that I would expect, and it's one that would accelerate as we get, again, closer to these deadlines because every customer that I have evaluated and spoken to, and there's a lot of them, they're very committed to this.

我認為我們的進度非常符合我所預期的節奏，而且當我們再次接近這些期限時，速度會加快；因為我評估並交流過的每一位客戶——而且有很多——都對此非常投入。

Thanks. That's all very helpful. I did want to ask on margins and colors. I mean, if I go back to last call, you were talking about the year margins being down about 50 basis points. You were flat in the first quarter. It sounds like from your comments earlier, you're thinking you're maybe flattish in 2Q, 3Q. Correct me if I'm wrong, and you sound like you're up in fourth quarter. So are margins up there?

謝謝。這些都很有幫助。我確實想問一下關於利潤率和色彩（Colors）這塊。我的意思是，如果我回到上次電話會議，你當時提到全年利潤率大約下滑 50 個基點。第一季你是持平。從你先前的評論聽起來，你認為第二季、第三季可能也大致持平。若我理解有誤請糾正我，而你聽起來第四季會上升。所以那邊的利潤率是上升的嗎？

And just what does that mean in terms of the OpEx investments? Is that embedded in there through the year? Is that slower? And I'll throw one more if you're able to quantify what those OpEx investments are that you're going to grow into next year, that would be helpful as well. Thank you.

另外，這對營業費用（OpEx）投資意味著什麼？這些是否已經在全年數字中反映？會不會比較慢？我再加問一個：如果你能量化一下你們這些 OpEx 投資的規模、以及你們預計明年要靠成長去消化（grow into）的那些 OpEx 投資是多少，也會很有幫助。謝謝。

Yeah. So EBITDA we were flat for the quarter. As I noted in the comments, that's a bit better than I had anticipated. Really the moving parts here are you mentioned it, the capital expenditures and when, as I like to say, metaphorically, the little green light goes on, which is to say the equipment is up and running and producing product, and now you're depreciating it. So that is a variable.

是的。所以本季 EBITDA 我們是持平。如我在評論中提到的，這比我原先預期的要好一些。這裡的變動因素主要是你提到的資本支出，以及何時——我喜歡用比喻說——那盞小綠燈亮起，也就是設備已經上線運轉並開始產出產品，接著你就開始提列折舊。所以這是一個變數。

And then you're balancing that variable with you've got ongoing investments to ensure that we have the right personnel in place and we have the right engineers and we're doing the right testing and a lot of the other R&D and applications and processing engineering that goes into these conversions, right? So we made a lot of those investments. So that's a second factor.

然後你要在這個變數之間取得平衡：你還有持續性的投資，以確保我們有合適的人員到位、有合適的工程師，並且做正確的測試，以及許多其他投入在這些轉換上的研發、應用與製程工程，對吧？所以我們做了很多這類投資。這是第二個因素。

And then you're balancing that with the inflow of revenue. And so if the capital is done before the sizable revenue comes in, which I'm not particularly -- that I don't have a problem with that. I'm okay with being early on capital. So that's where you may see a little bit of a headwind on that leverage.

接著你還要把它與營收流入做平衡。因此，如果資本投入先完成、但可觀的營收還沒進來——我並不是特別……我對這點沒有問題。我可以接受資本投入走在前面。所以在槓桿（leverage）上，你可能會看到一些小小的逆風。

But in instances where customers maybe move a launch to the left or a bigger launch happens, then that would balance a lot of that expenditure out and, therefore, provide a little bit of a tailwind to the EBITDA margin.

但如果有些情況是客戶把上市時程往前移，或是出現更大規模的上市，那就能抵消不少支出，因此會對 EBITDA 利潤率帶來一些順風。

So I think net-net for the year will be flattish on the EBITDA in the Color Group. I would expect it to be up in Asia. I would expect us to be up in flavor for the year. But Color -- you got the variables, you're exactly right. And it's just a matter of how does the revenue flow and how do we progress along with our investments.

所以我認為整體來看，今年 Color Group 的 EBITDA 淨額（net-net）會大致持平。我預期亞洲會上升。我預期風味（flavor）今年會上升。但 Colors——你說的那些變數完全正確。這就取決於營收如何流入，以及我們的投資推進到什麼程度。

And again, it may be a quarter or so that were early by. And I would consider -- I would be thrilled. If I was early on capital implementation, I had a bunch of folks sitting around waiting for products to come in, I can't think of anything more exciting in this moment than something like that.

再說一次，可能會有大概一季左右是我們走在前面。我會認為——我會非常興奮。如果我在資本導入上走在前面，有一群人坐著等產品進來，我此刻想不到還有什麼比那更令人興奮的事。

Got it. Thank you.

了解。謝謝。

Thanks, Josh.

謝謝，Josh。

Larry Solow, CJS Securities.

Larry Solow，CJS Securities。

Good morning, Paul and Tobin. Congrats. A nice start to the year.

早安，Paul 和 Tobin。恭喜，今年開局不錯。

Hey, Larry. well, thank you.

嗨，Larry。嗯，謝謝。

Hey. So I guess, just set the way, just asking those questions another way. Obviously, the quarter was a little bit better across segments, but in Colors, too, and the margin was a little bit better. It feels like -- and I think you're adjusting your margins a little bit. I guess, flattish on color side, you expect a little bit of a pressure, I think, last quarter.

嗨。所以我想，換個方式問同樣的問題。顯然這一季各事業部表現都稍微好一些，Colors 也是，而且利潤率也稍微好一些。感覺像是——而且我想你也稍微調整了你們的利潤率看法。我猜在色彩這邊，你預期大致持平；上季你似乎認為會有一些壓力。

So is the change, basically, it sounds like revenue is a little bit faster coming in. Conversions are a little bit faster. No change on the expected investment this year. Is that a good way to summarize what's happening in Colors just for the year?

所以這個變化基本上是：聽起來營收進來的速度稍微快一些，轉換（conversions）也稍微快一些；而今年預期的投資沒有改變。用這樣來總結今年 Colors 的情況，是否恰當？

Yeah, I think that's about right. Yeah, revenue was a little bit better than we thought, and I think that -- and that went a long way. I think that going back to the previous question, yeah, I think some of this is we -- it's all about the timing. And so again, you may have a quarter where it's not such a smooth slope on some of these variables.

是的，我覺得差不多。對，營收比我們想的稍微好一些，我認為——而這幫助很大。我想回到前一個問題，對，我覺得其中一部分就是——一切都跟時點有關。所以再說一次，你可能會遇到某一季，在這些變數上不是那麼平滑的斜率。

But yeah, you're absolutely right. I think we did better than we thought and so, therefore, the EBITDA was not down as I had thought it might be. So it was more flat. And yeah, I think that's a real positive outcome.

但對，你完全正確。我們做得比想像中好，因此 EBITDA 並沒有像我原先以為的那樣下滑，而是更接近持平。對，我認為這是非常正面的結果。

I think it's indicative of a couple of things, though, too, right? It's not only wins, but it's high quality wins. And I think one of the things that I've talked about over the years, the point among many that distinguishes Sensient's is that we really pursue those natural color opportunities that are very strongly performance-based applications.

我也認為這同時反映了幾件事，對吧？不只是贏得案子（wins），而且是高品質的贏單。我多年來談過的一點——也是眾多重點之一——能區分 Sensient 的地方在於：我們確實會追求那些天然色素（natural color）的機會，而這些多半是非常強調性能表現的應用。

Natural colors are exceedingly challenging in most formulations. But in others, it's a little bit more mundane, and then those are the ones that we tend to perhaps spend a little bit less time with.

天然色素在大多數配方中都極具挑戰。但在某些配方裡就比較平常，而那些案子我們往往可能就會投入較少時間。

And so when you focus on the more technically challenging, those tend to be, I suppose, more positive on the gross margin front than, of course, the more mundane. So I think the mix is going to continue to play a good factor here. And I think perhaps, in my own mind, the mix was a bit better than I thought it would be right out of the gate in Q1.

因此，當你聚焦在技術難度更高的案子時，我想在毛利率面通常會比那些較為平常的案子更有利。所以我認為產品組合（mix）會持續在這裡扮演良好因素。而且我自己覺得，第一季一開始時，組合就比我原先預期的還要好一些。

Okay. I appreciate that. And just like on the more hard to call it long term because it's only a couple of year outlook, right, where you give -- you have the January 1, '27 and more importantly, that's for Walmart, which I know is a nice percentage of just products in the United States. But January '28, obviously, is the deadline or soft deadline.

好的。我很感謝。再來就像——比較難說是長期，因為其實只是兩三年的展望，對吧？你提到 2027 年 1 月 1 日，更重要的是那是針對 Walmart；我知道 Walmart 在美國產品中占比不小。但 2028 年 1 月顯然是最後期限或軟性期限。

Clearly, I don't think you expect everybody to be able to convert, right? Just impossible. So I'm just curious, are companies getting more competitive, more maybe not anxious, but just trying to solidify their plans sooner than the next guy? Because it feels like it's going to be a little bit of a game of musical chairs in terms of if the full supply chain is not ready for the conversion. Maybe only some could convert.

很明顯，我不認為你預期每個人都能完成轉換，對吧？那不可能。所以我只是好奇，企業之間是否變得更具競爭性、更……也許不是焦慮，但就是想比別人更早把計畫定下來？因為感覺如果整個供應鏈沒有為轉換做好準備，這會有點像「搶椅子遊戲」：也許只有部分公司能完成轉換。

I'm just trying to get any color, no pun intended, on just how that's progressing as you get closer to these dates.

我只是想了解一些進展情況——不玩雙關語——看看隨著日期逼近，這件事是怎麼推進的。

Yeah. I would tell you that the bulk of the activity is going to be in 2027, but a significant amount of the activity, as you just saw here in Q1, is going to be here in 2026. So I gave you some of the factors that may impact the timing of these launches. But there's also the phenomenon of competitors, right? So if a competitor in this category converts to natural colors, and he does it sooner than his competitor would, you could expect that his competitor may want to more rapidly move in that direction as well.

是的。我會告訴你，大部分的活動會發生在 2027 年，但相當一部分的活動——就像你在第一季看到的——會在 2026 年就發生。所以我給了你一些可能影響這些上市時點的因素。但也有競爭對手的現象，對吧？如果同一品類的競爭者轉向天然色素，而且他比他的競爭對手更早完成，你可以預期他的競爭對手也會想更快速地往那個方向走。

There is ultimately in markets, what I like to refer to and you can read about this one, too, there is a tipping point. There's a critical mass of activity. Maybe it's 20%, maybe it's 30% of a market that it moves in this direction and then it moves very rapidly towards the end of --

市場最終會出現——我喜歡這樣稱呼，你也可以去讀相關內容——一個臨界點（tipping point）。會有一個活動的臨界規模（critical mass）。也許是市場的 20%，也許是 30% 先往這個方向移動，然後它就會在接近尾聲時非常快速地——

And so part of what we're preparing for is that possibility that it may start off where you get 10% and 15% is converted and then you get up to about 20% and then it moves very rapidly in that direction. Now whether you want to call that a tipping point or just folks all pursuing the similar deadlines, one way or the other, I think, everybody gets there.

因此，我們準備的一部分就是因應這種可能性：一開始可能只有 10%、15% 完成轉換，然後上升到大約 20%，接著就會非常快速地往那個方向前進。至於你要稱之為臨界點，或只是大家都在追逐相近的期限，不管怎麼說，我認為最後大家都會到達那裡。

But yeah, you're right. This is a matter of guiding your customers like, hey, folks, you can't all convert in Q4 2027, and you don't want to either. So I looked at a customer's launch plan just the other day, and they had it all metered out over the course of the year, this product category here and this product there, and right?

不過是的，你說得對。這關乎於引導你的客戶，例如，嘿，各位，你們不可能都在 2027 年第四季一起轉換，而且你們也不會想這麼做。所以我前幾天才看了一位客戶的上市計畫，他們把它在一年之中分段安排好，這個產品類別在這裡、那個產品在那裡，對吧？

So I think customers are really forming these plans up very, very, very nicely. And they've got a lot of risk in terms of their timing. They need to achieve their deadlines as well.

所以我認為客戶確實把這些計畫做得非常、非常、非常好。而且他們在時點安排上承擔了不少風險。他們也需要達成自己的截止期限。

So yeah, I think the more we go into this direction, I mean, eventually, it just has to happen by virtue of the expectation of the market. But I think you may -- you could see more dramatic conversions sooner than we had thought because of some of that competitive activity. When your competitors are doing it, and you're not, that's generally, not a good thing for you and being a CPC competitor.

所以是的，我認為我們越往這個方向走，最終就會因為市場預期而必然發生。但我認為你可能——你可能會看到比我們原先想像更早出現更劇烈的轉換，因為有一些競爭活動在推動。當你的競爭對手在做、而你沒有做時，通常對你並不是好事，尤其是作為 CPC 的競爭者。

So that remains to be seen. That's a bit of an uncharted territory, but then again, that's why we're like -- we're hitting it hard, Larry, on capital. We're hitting it hard on the supply chain. We are hitting it hard on stress testing this business, right? So I think we're going to be ready.

所以這還有待觀察。這有點像未知領域，但話說回來，這也是為什麼我們——我們在資本上全力以赴，Larry。我們在供應鏈上全力以赴。我們也在對這門業務做壓力測試，對吧？所以我認為我們會準備好。

Great. Now I could just slip one more. Just I think a few weeks ago, I think just my question is more on the FDA and just their activity or their involvement. I know a couple of weeks ago, think they delayed some approvals of -- I think they were more genetically engineered natural colors.

很好。我再插問一個。我想幾週前，我的問題更多是關於 FDA 以及他們的動作或參與程度。我知道幾週前，他們延後了一些核准——我想那些比較像是基因工程的天然色素。

So potentially, these were competing products that you probably wouldn't want to be approved either but -- and I guess as you're engineering is maybe not, quote-unquote, natural, but I guess my question is, is the FDA just getting more involved putting on with the natural and the involvement of the evolvement of natural colors or is it still more just -- I know they put out these recommendations and at all last year. I'm just curious if that was more of the -- just curious what's going on the FDA side and the supply chain. Thanks.

所以這些可能是你其實也不希望被核准的競品，但——而且我猜你們的工程化可能不算是所謂「天然」，但我想問的是，FDA 是否在「天然」以及天然色素演進的參與上變得更積極？還是仍然比較像——我知道他們去年也發布了這些建議。我只是好奇那是不是更像——只是想了解 FDA 端以及供應鏈端到底在發生什麼事。謝謝。

Yeah. So Colors is -- let me start with 100,000 feet, and I'll tell a little story here, just to give everybody on a line a little bit of background. At 100,000 feet, Colors are ingredients that have to be approved for use in food. So you may have heard other terms like grass. This is under a lot of controversy right now and in some corners.

是的。那麼色素——我先從宏觀層面說起，然後我會講個小故事，給線上的各位一些背景。在宏觀層面，色素是必須獲准才能用於食品的成分。所以你可能聽過其他術語，例如 GRAS。這件事目前在某些角落正引發不少爭議。

But Colors actually had to go through a full throttle, full throated, whatever you'd like to say, approval process with the FDA. And this approval process could entail tox studies, it could entail any number of tests, lots of data. Ultimately a lot of time and money to get a color approved in the United States.

但色素其實必須走完一套完整、嚴格——不管你想怎麼形容——的 FDA 核准流程。這個核准流程可能包含毒理研究，可能包含各式各樣的測試、大量數據。最終要花很多時間與金錢，才能在美國把一種色素核准下來。

Now -- what has happened over the years is many have been approved. There are many approved, but there will be more and more that will get approved in the future. Now sometimes these approvals it may be the use of this natural red -- and I'm going to get it approved for use in soda, but it's not approved for use in candy. That may be a separate set of testing and evaluation by the FDA.

那麼——多年來發生的情況是，很多都已經被核准。有很多已核准的，但未來還會有越來越多被核准。現在有時候這些核准可能是允許使用某種天然紅色——我就把它核准用在汽水裡，但它不一定核准用在糖果裡。那可能需要 FDA 另外一套測試與評估。

So when you look at these approvals, you have to note what applications in food that they are approved for. And so it's a very, very interesting process. It's very unique. It's very unique, and I would almost argue exclusive to Colors that every one of these has to be approved by the FDA.

所以當你看這些核准時，你必須注意它們被核准用於哪些食品應用。因此這是一個非常、非常有趣的流程。它非常獨特。它非常獨特，我甚至可以說，這幾乎是色素才有的「專屬」情況：每一項都必須由 FDA 核准。

So along the line, right -- and you're seeing a lot more activity. So to your question, is the FDA more involved? Yeah, because there's a lot more, what they call, petitioning to use a new natural color in the market.

所以一路走來，對吧——你也看到更多活動。所以回到你的問題：FDA 是否更投入？是的，因為市場上有更多他們所謂的「請願」（petitioning），也就是申請使用新的天然色素。

And so from time to time, or at least maybe the one you're referring to -- there was a [beet root] that was being challenged. Sometimes entities may challenge the use of that natural color in a segment or they may challenge the name of that natural color that may challenge some other facet of the approval at the FDA. I wouldn't consider this to be unusual to any great degree.

因此不時地，或者至少你提到的那個——有一個[甜菜根]正在被質疑。有時候某些機構可能會質疑那種天然色素在某個細分領域的使用，或是質疑那種天然色素的名稱，或是質疑 FDA 核准中的其他面向。我不會認為這在很大程度上算是不尋常。

Long story short, there's a lot of natural colors that are approved. We've got a good toolbox that we can work from. But it's not a complete toolbox. And so we very much get involved with the FDA in submitting raw materials that we could use for Colors as well. So very much a very active process right now for sure. And that's all public information. So if you ever wanted to go and check that out, you could see what's actually in the FDA's funnel on natural colors.

長話短說，已核准的天然色素很多。我們有一套不錯的工具箱可以運用。但它不是完整的工具箱。所以我們也非常積極與 FDA 互動，提交我們可用於色素的原料。因此現在確實是一個非常活躍的流程。而且這些都是公開資訊。所以如果你想去查，你可以看到 FDA 在天然色素方面的審查管道（funnel）裡到底有哪些案子。

Okay. Great. Thanks, Paul. Appreciate it.

好的。太好了。謝謝你，Paul。很感謝。

Okay. Thanks, Larry.

好的。謝謝你，Larry。

(Operator Instructions) Nicola Tang, BNP.

（接線員指示）BNP 的 Nicola Tang。

Hi, everyone.

嗨，各位好。

Hi, Nicola.

嗨，Nicola。

Hello.

你好。

Hi, there. First one is a quick simple one. I was wondering if you could give us an update on the revenue related to the conversion of synthetic colors. I think, last quarter, you're at about $5 million. Just wondering if you have an update as of this quarter.

嗨，你好。第一個是很快、很簡單的問題。我想請問你們能否更新一下與合成色素轉換相關的營收。我記得上一季大約是 500 萬美元。想請問這一季截至目前有沒有更新。

Sure. So yeah, just to recap for everybody else on the line here. So couple of numbers we talk about, right? We talk about our $1 billion sales goal and that's derived from we have about $100 million of synthetic colors, and we think that will convert at about [10 to 1]. So there's $1 billion is what we're chasing.

當然。那我也為線上的其他人簡單回顧一下。我們談的幾個數字，對吧？我們談到 10 億美元的銷售目標，而這是這樣推導的：我們大約有 1 億美元的合成色素，我們認為它會以大約[10 比 1]的比例轉換。所以我們追逐的就是這 10 億美元。

The back half of last year, we invoiced specific towards that goal, this natural color conversion, about $5 million. That was what was invoiced. Now when you take that back half and you take Q1 of this year, now we've invoiced about $20 million or so towards that goal of natural colors.

去年下半年，我們針對這個目標、也就是天然色素轉換，開立發票大約 500 萬美元。那是已開立的金額。現在把去年下半年加上今年第一季，我們目前針對天然色素這個目標已開立發票大約 2,000 萬美元左右。

So stated in a different way, you look at the colors growth was about 12%. You can do the math here, but about half of that was the base business just continue to do really well. And the other half was this incremental derived from these natural color conversions. But order of magnitude over the last nine months, it's been about $20 million of invoiced in natural color conversions in the US.

換個方式說，你看色素業務成長大約 12%。你可以自己算一下，但其中大約一半來自基礎業務持續表現非常好；另一半則是來自這些天然色素轉換所帶來的增量。以量級來看，過去九個月在美國的天然色素轉換已開立發票大約是 2,000 萬美元。

That's great. Thank you. Second question, I just wanted to ask a bit more about the reported EPS guidance. Just thinking more in absolute numbers. So at the midpoint, you're upgrading your EPS guide by about $0.10. But the beat actually, when I look at Q1 versus certainly consensus expectations is more like $0.20.

太好了。謝謝你。第二個問題，我想再多問一點關於你們公布的 EPS 指引。我用絕對數字來想：以中位數來看，你們把 EPS 指引上調大約 0.10 美元。但當我看第一季相對於（市場）一致預期的超出幅度，其實更像是 0.20 美元。

So actually, to me, it looks like although you've upgraded your guidance or of the metrics, it's actually an implied downgrade on the rest of the year. So I was wondering if you could help me, am I misunderstanding or are there reasons why you're -- maybe there was some pull forward in Q1 or maybe you're taking a more cautious outlook based on just general macro in the Middle East, as you mentioned. Just wondering if you could help me understand the new EPS finance.

所以對我來說，看起來雖然你們上調了指引或某些指標，但其實隱含著對今年剩餘期間的下修。我想請你們幫我釐清：是我誤解了嗎？還是你們有原因——例如第一季有一些提前拉貨（pull forward），或是你們基於你提到的中東整體宏觀情勢而採取更保守的展望？想請你們幫我理解新的 EPS 財務（指引）。

Okay. Let me -- I'll give the first part of SAB, and then I'll turn it over to Tobin. He loves this question. So EPS -- so yes, we raised our guidance. And I always like to start with revenue, we've got a very strong ability to control that figure, right?

好的。讓我——我先回答 SAB 的第一部分，然後再交給 Tobin。他很喜歡這個問題。關於 EPS——是的，我們上調了指引。而我一向喜歡從營收開始，我們對那個數字有非常強的掌控能力，對吧？

Yeah, okay, customers may delay a launch or move a launch or they may do this or that. But in general, across an organization this large, we like to think we have a strong control over revenue, and we can predict that fairly well for EBITDA, and so you see a nice raise on each one of those.

是的，好吧，客戶可能會延後上市、或調整上市時間，或做這個或那個。但整體而言，對於這麼大型的組織，我們傾向認為我們對營收有很強的掌控力，而且我們也能相當準確地預測 EBITDA，因此你會看到上述每一項都有不錯的上調。

You get below EBITDA, that's where you then start to have to factor in things like interest and tax and then things we don't control like FX and other potential below the EBITDA line factors.

當你往 EBITDA 以下看時，就必須開始把利息與稅負等因素納入考量，還有我們無法控制的因素，例如匯率（FX）以及其他可能落在 EBITDA 線以下的因素。

And so that's where the EPS figure can get somewhat separated from the neat leverage that you see between revenue and EBITDA that you, therefore, expect on EPS. So I think in short, interest is up substantially, and I'm going to let Tobin answer that. But there's a couple of other factors in there, too. You can --

因此，EPS 的數字可能會與你在營收與 EBITDA 之間看到的那種整齊的槓桿關係有所脫鉤，而你原本會因此對 EPS 有所期待。簡而言之，利息大幅上升，我會讓 Tobin 來回答。不過裡面還有幾個其他因素。你可以——

Yeah. I think -- and we talked about it a little bit in our prepared comments, but throughout, interest was up in the first quarter of $7.9 million versus $7.3 million last year. And we expect that to continue throughout the year, given the investments that we're making in natural colors from the capital, and then as Paul mentioned, from people and R&D and everything.

是的。我想——我們在事先準備的評論中也稍微提到過，整體來看，第一季利息費用為 790 萬美元，去年同期為 730 萬美元。我們預期這種情況會在全年持續，因為我們正在以資本投入天然色素的投資，另外如 Paul 所提，還有人員、研發等各方面的投入。

So we expect our overall interest expense to be up about $6 million throughout this year and that will progress on a quarterly basis as we move forward. So you have that increasing. Our leverage ratio right now is about 2.4. In our comments, I mentioned, we expect that to climb as well as our debt increases throughout the year. So we'll be in the higher 2s from that point.

因此，我們預期今年全年的整體利息費用將增加約 600 萬美元，並且會隨著我們往前推進而按季度逐步反映。所以你會看到它上升。我們目前的槓桿比率約為 2.4。在我們的評論中我提到，我們也預期隨著今年債務增加，該比率會上升。因此從那時起會落在 2 倍後段（higher 2s）。

Tax rate, we're about 25% in the first quarter. We're guiding for 25% this next quarter and roughly about 25% for the year. So you have those components.

稅率方面，第一季約為 25%。我們對下一季的指引是 25%，全年大致也約 25%。所以你有這些構成要素。

FX was a benefit, as I mentioned in the prepared comments, about $0.06 in this first quarter. Exchange rates are all over the place right now, given what's going on in the world. I would say that in the back half of the year, that would become more of a headwind. But, overall, FX should be about immaterial when you look at it for the year.

如我在事先準備的評論中提到，匯率（FX）在第一季帶來約 0.06 美元的正面貢獻。鑑於目前全球局勢，匯率波動很大。我會說在下半年，這可能會變成較大的逆風。但整體而言，若以全年來看，FX 應該大致不具重大影響（immaterial）。

So when you look at it, we did increase our EPS guidance from where we were in Q1. So right now, we're at high single-digit growth and double-digit growth. So that's where we are at this point.

所以從整體來看，我們確實把 EPS 指引從 Q1 時的水準上調了。現在我們處於高個位數成長到雙位數成長的區間。這就是我們目前的狀況。

Okay. Thank you, And then just going back on the previous -- you answered the previous question, I was just reflecting on it. When you said 20 million invoiced -- is that with reference to the $100 million revenue -- synthetic revenue or the $1 billion overall revenue opportunity?

好的，謝謝。然後回到前一個——你已經回答了前一個問題，我只是回想一下。你提到已開立發票的 2,000 萬——這是指 1 億美元營收——合成營收，還是指整體 10 億美元的營收機會？

The $1 billion.

10 億美元。

Okay. Got it. And then the final question would be just around raw materials. You mentioned you don't have significant direct exposure to Middle East, but I think there's a general view that input inflation -- there may be more input inflation, particularly on the synthetic side. I was wondering what you're expecting in terms of inputs this year?

好的，了解。最後一個問題是關於原物料。你提到你們沒有顯著的中東直接曝險，但我想市場普遍認為投入成本通膨——可能會有更多投入成本通膨，特別是在合成端。我想請問你們對今年投入成本的預期是什麼？

And are we mainly talking about synthetics? Or should we be thinking about certain naturals within your supply chain, which are either sourced, I don't know, from the Middle East or from Asia or something where there might be a potential disruption either in terms of cost or availability? Thanks.

我們主要是在談合成品嗎？還是我們也應該考慮你們供應鏈中的某些天然原料，可能是從中東或亞洲等地採購，而在成本或供應可得性方面可能出現潛在干擾？謝謝。

Okay. So in short, we believe that there is a sufficient amount of inflationary inputs that we're going to need to take pricing to address that. This would be low single-digit magnitude. So not unlike again, where we've done this in other instances of tariffs and wars and pandemics and the like. We would anticipate taking pricing there.

好的。簡而言之，我們認為投入成本的通膨程度足以使我們需要透過調價來因應。幅度會是低個位數。因此這並不陌生，就像我們過去在關稅、戰爭、疫情等情況下所做的一樣。我們預期會在那裡進行調價。

The biggest factors here, there's certainly the logistical inflation substantially derived from energy and petroleum more specifically. So we face that. There's an impact of packaging as many of those raw materials have petroleum based in inputs.

這裡最大的因素，當然是物流通膨，主要且顯著地來自能源，尤其是石油。因此我們會面臨這個。包裝也會受到影響，因為許多包裝原料的投入是以石油為基礎。

And then of course, as many in the media are fond of saying, petroleum-based synthetic colors, of course, therefore, you realize that a couple of those synthetic colors are indeed derived. Of course, then again, many things in nature are derived from that as well. But that aside, we would expect to see more on the raw material side of synthetic colors for food and for personal care that we would need to address.

然後當然，正如許多媒體喜歡說的，石油基的合成色素——因此你會理解其中有幾種合成色素確實是由此衍生而來。當然，再說一次，自然界中也有許多東西同樣是由此衍生。不過撇開這點不談，我們預期在食品與個人護理用的合成色素原物料端，會看到更多需要我們去因應的壓力。

For natural colors, it would come fertilizers and other input costs we see rising. So those would have an impact on natural colors. But a lot of these costs for harvest are built into the next year's harvest. Often time, you hear me talk about that with our raw materials or with our agricultural business.

至於天然色素，肥料以及其他投入成本正在上升。因此這些會對天然色素造成影響。但許多收成相關成本會被納入下一年度的收成之中。你常常聽我在談我們的原物料或農業業務時提到這一點。

So in short, there's many of these different factors, but I think we can address this, and we will address this with a modest amount of price increase that we would expect to give, principally focused in synthetic colors for food and personal care, but also anything related to logistics, which is effectively all in down and outbound freight.

所以簡而言之，有很多不同因素，但我認為我們可以因應，而且我們會透過小幅調價來因應。我們預期主要會聚焦在食品與個人護理的合成色素，但也會涵蓋任何與物流相關的項目，基本上就是所有進出貨運費。

And then, of course, a couple of other -- you'll hear propylene glycol is another one that's been heavily impacted by the war. So that's how we see it playing out right now. And even if the war were to stop, there's still a sufficient enough backlog in other sources of inertia here that the inflation is coming if it hasn't already, and so we're going to need to address that.

另外，當然還有幾個其他——你會聽到丙二醇（propylene glycol）也是另一個受到戰爭嚴重影響的項目。這就是我們目前看到的發展方向。即使戰爭停止，在其他來源仍有足夠的積壓與慣性之下，通膨仍會到來（如果還沒來的話），因此我們需要去因應。

Okay. That's perfect. Thanks so much.

好的。非常好。非常感謝。

Okay. Thanks.

好的。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Joshua Spector, UBS.

UBS 的 Joshua Spector。

Yeah. Hi. Just a small follow-up and actually related to what you were just talking about, is just as you look at your 2Q guide, are you baking in anything in terms of a negative impact from transport logistics cost, et cetera? Or are you assuming your pricing offsets that more or less in real time?

是的，嗨。我有個小小的追問，也與你剛才談到的內容相關：當你看你們的 2Q 指引時，你們是否已經把運輸物流成本等的負面影響納入？還是你們假設你們的定價會或多或少即時抵銷？

I'm not assuming any bad, and I'm not assuming any good. So I didn't assume the inflation because at this point, it's fairly modest and some of it is, quite frankly, deferred. But I'm also not assuming any pricing in Q2. either from a guidance standpoint.

我沒有假設任何壞的，也沒有假設任何好的。所以我沒有把通膨納入，因為目前它相當溫和，而且其中一部分坦白說是延後反映的。但同時，從指引角度來看，我也沒有假設 Q2 會有任何調價。

Okay. Thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Okay. All right. Thanks, Josh.

好的。好。謝謝，Josh。

Thanks, Josh.

謝謝，Josh。

And that concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Tornehl for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

以上為我們的問答環節。我想把電話會議交回給 Tornehl 先生作結語。請開始。

Okay. Thank you for your time today. That concludes our call. If you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to reach out to the company. Have a great weekend.

好的。感謝各位今天撥冗參與。電話會議到此結束。如有任何後續問題，歡迎隨時與公司聯繫。祝各位週末愉快。

The conference has now concluded. You may now disconnect.

本次電話會議已結束。您現在可以掛線。