Universal Corp (UVV) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Desiree, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Universal Corporation first-quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的支持。我叫 Desiree，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加環球公司2026財年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Wushuang Ma, Vice President and Treasurer. You may begin.

現在，我想將會議交給副總裁兼財務主管馬無雙。你可以開始了。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Preston Wigner, our Chairman, President and CEO; and Johan Kroner, our Chief Financial Officer.

早安，感謝您加入我們。今天與我在一起的有我們的董事長、總裁兼執行長 Preston Wigner；以及我們的財務長 Johan Kroner。

During the course of this call, we will be making forward-looking statements that are based on our current knowledge and some assumptions about the future. They are representative as of today only. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from the anticipated results, prospects, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

在本次電話會議中，我們將根據我們目前的知識和對未來的一些假設做出前瞻性的陳述。它們僅代表今天的狀況。實際結果、績效或成就可能與此類前瞻性陳述所表達或暗示的預期結果、前景、績效或成就有重大差異，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務，除非法律要求。

For information on some of the risks and uncertainties related to these forward-looking statements, please refer to our reports we filed with the SEC and under cautionary statements regarding forward-looking statements in our current earnings press release. Finally, some of the information we have for you today may be based on unaudited allocations and may be subject to reclassification.

有關這些前瞻性陳述的一些風險和不確定性的信息，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告以及我們當前收益新聞稿中有關前瞻性陳述的警示聲明。最後，我們今天為您提供的一些資訊可能基於未經審計的分配，並且可能會重新分類。

Our comments may also include certain non-GAAP financial measures. For details regarding these measures, including a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures, please refer to our current earnings press release and other public materials.

我們的評論可能還包括某些非公認會計準則財務指標。有關這些指標的詳細信息，包括這些非公認會計準則指標與最具可比性的公認會計準則指標的對賬，請參閱我們當前的收益新聞稿和其他公開資料。

This call is being webcast live and will be available for replay on our website through November 7, 2025, and via telephone through August 21, 2025. This call is copyrighted and may not be used without our permission. Other than the referenced replay, we have not authorized and disclaim responsibility for any recording, replay, or distribution of any transcription of this call.

本次電話會議將進行網路直播，並可在我們的網站上重播至 2025 年 11 月 7 日，並透過電話重播至 2025 年 8 月 21 日。此通話受版權保護，未經我們許可不得使用。除了所引用的重播之外，我們沒有授權對本次通話的任何記錄進行錄音、重播或分發，並且不承擔任何責任。

I would like to now turn the call over to Preston.

現在我想把電話轉給普雷斯頓。

Thank you, Wush. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. We are off to a good start to our fiscal year. On a consolidated basis, operating income increased $17 million to $34 million for the first fiscal quarter, while revenue was down slightly to $594 million for the quarter.

謝謝你，Wush。大家早安。感謝您今天加入我們。我們的財政年度開局良好。從合併數據來看，第一財季的營業收入增加了 1,700 萬美元，達到 3,400 萬美元，而本季的收入則略有下降，為 5.94 億美元。

Our Tobacco Operations segment delivered improved results driven primarily by favorable product mix, which offset lower tobacco sales volumes. Seasonally, our first fiscal quarter tends to be our smaller quarter. Tobacco sales volumes in the first quarter are generally driven by shipments of carryover tobacco from the prior fiscal year.

我們的菸草業務部門取得了更好的業績，這主要得益於良好的產品組合，抵消了菸草銷售量的下降。從季節性來看，我們的第一個財政季度往往是較小的季度。第一季的菸草銷售量一般受到上一財年結轉菸草出貨量的推動。

Given strong customer demand last fiscal year, we shipped significant volumes of tobacco earlier in the prior year. As a result, carryover tobacco shipments and tobacco sales volumes were lower in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the same quarter last year.

鑑於上財年客戶需求強勁，我們在上一年早些時候運送了大量菸草。因此，本財年第一季的菸草結轉出貨量和菸草銷售量與去年同期相比有所下降。

Flue-cured and burley crop sizes are significantly larger this fiscal year, and green tobacco purchases are largely completed in Brazil and Africa. Although it is still early, we expect the flue-cured and burley tobacco will move to more balanced supply positions during the fiscal year.

本財年烤煙和白肋煙的產量明顯增加，巴西和非洲的綠色菸草採購已基本完成。儘管現在還為時過早，但我們預計，在本財年，烤煙和白肋煙的供應將更加平衡。

Given the current expected crop sizes, we believe it is likely that flue-cured and burley tobacco will be in oversupply positions by the end of the fiscal year. Customer demand has remained firm despite larger crops, and we believe this is a result of several years of short tobacco supply. At the end of June, our uncommitted tobacco inventories were low at about 11% of total tobacco inventory.

考慮到目前預期的作物產量，我們認為到本財政年度末，烤煙和白肋煙很可能會出現供過於求的局面。儘管菸草產量增加，但客戶需求依然堅挺，我們認為這是由於幾年來菸草供應短缺造成的。截至 6 月底，我們的未承諾菸草庫存較低，約佔菸草總庫存的 11%。

Turning to our Ingredients Operations segment. We maintained positive momentum in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, with revenues and sales volumes both up in the quarter. Operating income was lower in the quarter.

轉向我們的原料營運部門。我們在 2026 財年第一季保持了積極的勢頭，本季營收和銷售量均有所增長。本季營業收入較低。

Segment results were impacted by a less favorable product mix, tariff uncertainty impacts on demand and higher fixed costs associated with our recently expanded production facility. As we work to fill our new facility, we continue to see interest in our new value-added products.

產品組合不太有利、關稅不確定性對需求的影響以及與我們最近擴大的生產設施相關的固定成本增加，這些因素都對分部業績產生了影響。在我們努力充實新設施的同時，我們繼續看到人們對我們新的增值產品的興趣。

Supported by a foundational customer for our expanded facility, we are focused on converting additional interest from both new and existing customers into increased volumes and margins. I will now hand it over to Johan to provide details of our financial and operational performance. After which, I will offer additional thoughts and open the call for questions.

在基礎客戶的支持下，我們擴大了設施，專注於將新舊客戶的額外興趣轉化為增加的銷售和利潤。現在我將把會議交給約翰，由他來詳細介紹我們的財務和營運表現。之後，我將提出更多想法並開放提問。

Thank you, Preston. Good morning, everyone. As Preston mentioned, we are off to a good start to our fiscal year 2026 with improved results from our Tobacco Operations segment and higher revenue and sales volumes in our Ingredients Operations segment.

謝謝你，普雷斯頓。大家早安。正如普雷斯頓所提到的，我們的 2026 財年開局良好，菸草業務部門的業績有所改善，配料業務部門的收入和銷售量也有所增加。

For the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, sales and other operating revenues were $593.8 million as compared to $597.1 million for the same quarter last fiscal year. This was a slight decline of $3.3 million, mainly due to lower sales of carryover crop tobaccos.

2026 財年第一季，銷售額和其他營業收入為 5.938 億美元，而上一財年同期為 5.971 億美元。這一數字略有下降，為 330 萬美元，主要原因是結轉作物菸草的銷售額下降。

Operating income for the quarter was $33.8 million as compared to $17.2 million for the same quarter in the fiscal year 2025. The increase of $16.6 million was due to a favorable product mix in the Tobacco Operations segment.

本季營業收入為 3,380 萬美元，而 2025 財年同期為 1,720 萬美元。1,660 萬美元的成長是由於菸草業務部門的產品組合良好。

SG&A expenses were $79.2 million during the quarter compared to $78.7 million for the same quarter last year, an increase of $500,000 primarily due to higher compensation and legal and professional fees, which were largely offset by favorable foreign currency comparisons and lower tobacco sales commissions.

本季銷售、一般及行政費用為 7,920 萬美元，而去年同期為 7,870 萬美元，增加了 50 萬美元，主要原因是薪酬和法律及專業費用增加，但這在很大程度上被有利的外匯比較和較低的菸草銷售佣金所抵消。

Net income attributable to Universal Corporation was $8.5 million for the first quarter or $0.34 per share on a fully diluted basis as compared to $100,000 or $0.01 per share for the same quarter in fiscal year 2025. Adjusted net income, which excludes certain nonrecurring items, was $9.6 million or $0.38 per share on a fully diluted basis for the quarter as compared to $100,000 or $0.01 per share for the same quarter last year.

第一季環球公司的淨收入為 850 萬美元，即完全稀釋後每股 0.34 美元，而 2025 財年同期為 10 萬美元，即每股 0.01 美元。調整後淨收入（不包括某些非經常性項目）本季為 960 萬美元或每股 0.38 美元（完全稀釋後），而去年同期為 10 萬美元或每股 0.01 美元。

Segment operating income for the Tobacco Operations segment was $35.7 million in the quarter as compared to $14.5 million for the same quarter last year. The increase of $21.2 million was mainly due to a favorable product mix in Asia. Segment operating income for the Ingredients Operations segment was $1.7 million for the quarter as compared to $2.9 million for the same quarter last year.

本季菸草業務部門的營業收入為 3,570 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,450 萬美元。2,120萬美元的成長主要歸功於亞洲有利的產品組合。本季原料營運部門的營業收入為 170 萬美元，而去年同期為 290 萬美元。

The decrease of $1.2 million was due to less favorable product mix, some curtailed demand due to tariff uncertainty and higher fixed costs including depreciation from our recently expanded Universal Ingredients production facility.

減少 120 萬美元的原因是產品組合不太理想、關稅不確定性導致需求減少以及固定成本增加（包括我們最近擴建的 Universal Ingredients 生產設施的折舊）。

The corporate overhead allocation to the segment was also higher in the quarter. As of June 30, 2025, our net debt, which is defined as the sum of notes payable, overdrafts and long-term obligations, including current portion plus customer advances and deposits less cash and cash equivalents was $1.1 billion, $47 million lower than as of June 30 of last year. We are focused on continuing to maintain a strong balance sheet and conservative debt levels.

本季度，公司分配給該部門的間接費用也有所增加。截至 2025 年 6 月 30 日，我們的淨債務（定義為應付票據、透支和長期債務的總和，包括目前部分加上客戶預付款和存款減去現金和現金等價物）為 11 億美元，比去年 6 月 30 日低 4,700 萬美元。我們專注於繼續保持強勁的資產負債表和保守的債務水準。

I would like to now turn it back over to Preston.

現在我想把發言權交還給普雷斯頓。

Thank you, Johan. It is still early in our fiscal year. Uncertainties remain for the rest of the fiscal year, including our customers' procurement strategies and tariff impacts. We believe those challenges can present us with opportunities. Our global diversification, long-term customer relationships and local expertise will position us well to capitalize on those opportunities.

謝謝你，約翰。我們的財政年度仍處於初期。本財年剩餘時間仍存在不確定性，包括我們客戶的採購策略和關稅影響。我們相信這些挑戰也為我們帶來機會。我們的全球多元化、長期的客戶關係和本地專業知識將使我們能夠充分利用這些機會。

Our leaf tobacco team is experienced in managing changes in market conditions. We will continue pursuing opportunities to maximize and optimize our tobacco business, including offering and providing additional services to our customers.

我們的菸葉團隊在應對市場條件變化方面經驗豐富。我們將繼續尋求機會來最大化和優化我們的菸草業務，包括為我們的客戶提供額外的服務。

At the same time, we are dedicated to continuing our Ingredients segment's momentum. We are focused on driving organic growth, capitalizing on our investments in Universal Ingredients and converting customer interest into product sales. Our expanded facility added an industry-leading combination of extraction, blending, aseptic packaging and other capabilities to our segment.

同時，我們致力於延續原料部門的發展動能。我們專注於推動有機成長，利用對 Universal Ingredients 的投資並將客戶興趣轉化為產品銷售。我們擴建的工廠為我們的部門增加了業界領先的提取、混合、無菌包裝和其他功能的組合。

With our investment in sales, marketing and product development teams, we are creating value across the entire Universal Ingredients business and delivering unique customized products to our customers. I also want to take a moment to acknowledge a recent leadership announcement.

透過對銷售、行銷和產品開發團隊的投資，我們正在整個 Universal Ingredients 業務中創造價值，並為客戶提供獨特的客製化產品。我還想花一點時間來確認一下最近的領導任命。

Johan will be retiring from his role as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer after more than 30 years with Universal. He will remain with the company through July 1, 2026, to support a seamless transition. We thank Johan for his dedicated service and we value the financial discipline he has instilled across the organization.

在環球影業工作 30 多年後，約翰將卸任高級副總裁兼財務長一職。他將繼續在公司任職至 2026 年 7 月 1 日，以確保順利過渡。我們感謝約翰的忠誠服務，並重視他在整個組織中灌輸的財務紀律。

I look forward to working closely with Johan for the next year. Finally, I'd like to highlight our ongoing commitment to sustainability. At Universal, we believe sustainability is good for business and it gives us a competitive advantage. It also represents good stewardship in the communities in which we operate. We recently completed our annual third-party assessment and verification of Scope 1, 2 and relevant Scope 3 emissions.

我期待明年與約翰密切合作。最後，我想強調我們對永續發展的持續承諾。在環球影業，我們相信永續發展有利於業務，並能為我們帶來競爭優勢。這也代表了我們經營所在社區的良好管理。我們最近完成了範圍 1、2 和相關範圍 3 排放的年度第三方評估和驗證。

This assessment is part of our broader emissions reduction efforts. It ensures alignment with established standards and provides transparency into our emission reduction efforts. It also helps us calculate the impact of projects, like our newly commissioned biomass boiler in Zimbabwe.

此次評估是我們更廣泛的減排努力的一部分。它確保與既定標準保持一致，並為我們的減排工作提供透明度。它還幫助我們計算專案的影響，例如我們在津巴布韋新投入使用的生物質鍋爐。

Once operational, this new boiler will hope reduce coal use over time and contribute to our goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our value chain by the year 2050. Universal will continue integrating sustainability into our operational decision-making.

一旦投入運營，該新鍋爐有望逐漸減少煤炭使用量，並有助於我們實現 2050 年價值鏈溫室氣體淨零排放的目標。環球影城將繼續將永續性融入我們的營運決策中。

Operator, please open the floor for questions.

接線員，請開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Ann Gurkin, Davenport.

（操作員指示） Ann Gurkin，達文波特。

Congratulations on a very solid start to your fiscal year. Nice to see. I was wondering if we could start with a conversation surrounding tariffs, both on tobacco and ingredients business. I guess, starting with tobacco, leaf imported into the US from Brazil, I think, would represent maybe 5% to 10% of tobacco sales for you all.

恭喜您的財政年度取得了非常良好的開端。很高興看到。我想知道我們是否可以先討論一下菸草和配料業務的關稅問題。我想，從菸草開始，從巴西進口到美國的菸葉大概佔你們菸草銷售額的 5% 到 10%。

Is that in the ballpark? And how should I think about navigating the tariff situation, uncertainty, ability to pass along tariff costs to customers? Any kind of insight you can share on the tobacco tariff situation?

這大概是這樣的嗎？我應該如何考慮應對關稅狀況、不確定性以及將關稅成本轉嫁給客戶的能力？您能分享一些有關菸草關稅情況的見解嗎？

Sure. With respect to Brazil imports, I think those imports over the years, let's say, they're around 35,000, 40,000 tons per year, which is a small portion of the total Brazil crop. And our portion of that is relatively small. On the tobacco side, a large majority of our business is obviously outside the United States. So it's not a significant impact for imports in and out of the United States for us.

當然。關於巴西的進口，我認為多年來的進口量大約是每年 35,000 至 40,000 噸，這只是巴西總產量的一小部分。而我們的份額相對較小。在菸草方面，我們的大部分業務顯然在美國以外。因此，這對於我們進出美國的進口不會產生重大影響。

Our diversified footprint and our broad customer base, they provide opportunities for us and solutions for our customers with tariff impacts. For our US customers, we can provide them with options if they need to shift purchases from high tariff origins like Brazil, including selling them US tobacco. And where we have tobacco in high tariff origins, we have a very broad global customer base and we move that tobacco to them.

我們多元化的業務範圍和廣泛的客戶群為我們提供了機會，並為我們的客戶提供了關稅影響的解決方案。對於我們的美國客戶，如果他們需要從巴西等高關稅產地轉移採購，我們可以為他們提供選擇，包括向他們出售美國菸草。在菸草產自高關稅地區的地方，我們擁有非常廣泛的全球客戶群，我們將菸草運送給他們。

Tariffs are still fluid. They continue to be monitored, and we remain in very close contact with our customers, both on the tobacco side and on the ingredient side. On the ingredients side, our ingredients business also has flexibility. We evaluate and alter our buying strategies to account for tariffs. And we import raw materials, for example, from China for one of our operations, and we did buy forward to mitigate the tariff impacts for those volumes that we bought.

關稅仍不穩定。我們將繼續對它們進行監控，並與菸草和原料方面的客戶保持密切聯繫。在配料方面，我們的配料業務也具有靈活性。我們評估並改變我們的購買策略以考慮關稅。例如，我們從中國進口原材料用於我們的一項業務，我們確實進行了預購，以減輕我們購買的這些數量的關稅影響。

We also work with our customers on their buying strategies to mitigate tariffs. We've seen some tariff impacts on customers demand that are arising from challenges in their own supply chains. And we've worked with those customers to understand the impacts of those supply chains and the timing of when they can increase their purchases from us.

我們也與客戶合作制定購買策略來降低關稅。我們已經看到關稅對客戶需求產生了一些影響，這些影響源自於客戶自身供應鏈中的挑戰。我們與這些客戶合作，了解這些供應鏈的影響以及何時可以增加從我們這裡購買的時機。

And we work very closely with both our tobacco and our ingredients customers in those tariffs. And if tariff costs are included in the pricing, then they're included in the pricing, but we certainly try everything we can to work with our customers to mitigate those impacts of tariffs to avoid those situations.

我們在這些關稅方面與菸草和配料客戶密切合作。如果關稅成本包含在定價中，那麼它們就包含在定價中，但我們肯定會盡一切努力與客戶合作，減輕關稅的影響，以避免這些情況的發生。

So overall, our global footprint and our customer base, broad customer base and really solid customer relationships, they're going to help us pursue these opportunities that tariffs are going to create, and we're really well placed to take advantage of that.

因此，總體而言，我們的全球足跡和客戶群、廣泛的客戶基礎以及真正穩固的客戶關係將幫助我們抓住關稅所創造的機會，而我們完全有能力利用這些機會。

Great. That's very helpful. I appreciate it. Sticking with tobacco, nice margin in the first quarter. I understand the positive contribution from the mix from Asia. How should I think about -- or can you help me think about margin projection in the second half of the fiscal year, reflecting customer orders and pricing and mix? And how should I think about that margin really for the full year for the Tobacco segment?

偉大的。這非常有幫助。我很感激。堅持煙草業務，第一季獲利不錯。我了解亞洲的混合體所做的正面貢獻。我該如何考慮——或者您能否幫助我考慮下半年財政年度的利潤預測，以反映客戶訂單、定價和組合？那麼我該如何看待菸草部門全年的實際利潤率呢？

Yes. Of course, as we mentioned earlier in the call, the first quarter is our seasonally low quarter. And so we certainly enjoyed an improved product mix for carryover sales for the quarter, but it's a small quarter for us. Looking ahead, we have been very happy with how things have progressed. We have largely completed purchasing in Brazil and Africa and those crops are very large, and we expect very large crops all around the world.

是的。當然，正如我們之前在電話會議中提到的那樣，第一季是我們季節性的低迷季度。因此，我們確實享受了本季結轉銷售產品組合的改善，但對我們來說這是一個較小的季度。展望未來，我們對事情的進展感到非常高興。我們基本上已經完成了巴西和非洲的採購，這些地區的產量非常大，我們預計世界各地的產量都將非常大。

And with that, we would expect pricing to come down despite that firm demand to date. So that could create margin pressure that we would monitor and work with our customers. Additionally, if we're handling larger volumes through our factories with those larger crops, that also helps reduce our per unit costs in our factory.

因此，儘管迄今為止需求依然強勁，我們預計價格將會下降。因此，這可能會產生利潤壓力，我們會對其進行監控並與客戶合作。此外，如果我們透過工廠處理更大產量的農作物，這也有助於降低我們工廠的單位成本。

So we're very happy with where we are today with our uncommitted inventory levels and with the more traditional buying patterns that we've seen especially in Brazil versus what we've seen in the prior season with the accelerated buying everything all at one grade.

因此，我們對目前的未承諾庫存水準以及我們所看到的更傳統的購買模式感到非常滿意，尤其是在巴西，而上一季我們則看到加速購買同一等級的所有產品。

That gives us options to satisfy our customers' needs while also protecting the margins that we recognize for the value that we bring to our customers. There's a value doing business with Universal. So it's still really early in the season. There's still a lot of tobacco to buy. There are markets that still are opening. And we're going to continue to monitor those dynamics in those markets and work hard with our customers to maintain good communication with them and to protect the value that we bring to them.

這為我們提供了滿足客戶需求的選擇，同時也保護了我們為客戶帶來的價值所帶來的利潤。與環球影業做生意很有價值。所以現在賽季還處於初期階段。還有很多煙草要購買。一些市場仍在開放。我們將繼續關注這些市場的動態，並努力與我們的客戶保持良好的溝通，以保護我們為他們帶來的價值。

Super. And have you been able to increase services or market share with customers?

極好的。您是否能夠增加服務或客戶市場佔有率？

Yes, that's certainly a goal of ours. That's part of our corporate strategy of maximizing and optimizing tobacco is to increase volumes, increase market share and take advantage of opportunities to increase the services we provide for them. I'm not going to talk about any customer in particular, but we're very happy with where things are going so far early in the year. And we see benefits. We still have a long way to go for the year.

是的，這當然是我們的目標。這是我們最大化和優化菸草的公司策略的一部分，旨在增加產量、增加市場份額並利用機會增加我們為他們提供的服務。我不會談論任何特定的客戶，但我們對今年年初的進展感到非常滿意。我們看到了好處。今年我們還有很長的路要走。

But we're on the right track, and we're optimistic.

但我們正走在正確的道路上，而且我們很樂觀。

Super. And then maybe an update on the progress of the US tobacco leaf crop?

極好的。然後也許可以介紹一下美國菸葉作物的進展？

Yes. US tobacco crop is large. It's more of a traditional crop. Buying is really just beginning. So it's really sort of early in the process for that. They've had very good weather conditions. So it should be a really large crop in pretty good quality.

是的。美國煙草產量大。它更像是一種傳統作物。購買實際上才剛開始。所以現在這個過程還處於早期階段。他們遇到了非常好的天氣條件。因此，這應該是一個產量很大且品質很好的作物。

Super. Switching to Ingredients. So the margin was lower than we would have thought in the first quarter and you've outlined the challenges faced by that segment in the first quarter. I guess also the same question. If you look out to the back half, we had operating margins for the full year for Ingredients in the mid-single-digit range, and that seems aggressive given what we've seen in the first quarter, some customer challenges, specific customer challenges, maybe reduced purchases and forward purchases that shifted into Q4 last year.

極好的。切換到配料。因此，第一季的利潤率低於我們的預期，並且您已經概述了該部門在第一季面臨的挑戰。我猜也是同樣的問題。如果你看一下下半年，我們全年的原料營業利潤率處於中等個位數範圍內，考慮到我們在第一季度看到的情況，這似乎很有侵略性，一些客戶挑戰，特定客戶挑戰，可能減少的購買量和遠期購買量轉移到去年第四季度。

I guess, can you help me think about that margin progression, where it could end, land at the end of fiscal '26, please?

我想，您能幫我想想利潤率的成長速度嗎？它會在 26 財年末結束嗎？

Yes, there are certainly a lot of moving pieces with that. We're very happy with the momentum from increased revenue and volume, and we continue to make progress with our ingredient strategy. We're focused on continuing to increase volume of the value-added products, especially through the new Universal Ingredients, Shank's expanded facility to increase sales and achieve returns on those investments.

是的，這其中確實有很多變動。我們對營收和銷售成長的勢頭感到非常高興，我們的原料策略將繼續取得進展。我們專注於持續增加加值產品的產量，特別是透過新的 Universal Ingredients、Shank 的擴建設施來增加銷售並實現投資回報。

We did have those additional costs that impacted the first quarter, performance in margin, and our goal is to keep increasing volume through the facility as well as across the entire platform to reduce those per unit costs and provide us more opportunities to increase margins. It's a similar story on the tobacco side with increasing volumes going through our factories.

我們確實有一些額外成本影響了第一季的利潤表現，我們的目標是繼續透過工廠以及整個平台增加產量，以降低單位成本並為我們提供更多提高利潤的機會。菸草方面的情況也類似，我們工廠的菸草產量不斷增加。

We continue to see interest in the value-added products and capabilities, and we're absolutely dedicated to converting them with existing and new customers from existing business, new business, pipeline business to additional volumes and improved margins.

我們繼續看到人們對增值產品和功能的興趣，並且我們絕對致力於與現有和新客戶一起將它們從現有業務、新業務、管道業務轉化為額外的銷售和更高的利潤率。

And you've set a terrific investment in the new facility, as you referenced, Shank's, and then the new capacity at the Shank's facility and the investment in added sales force. So you've set a platform to drive these higher revenues, and that is very exciting. I guess are you experiencing customer wins? Are you experiencing increased business that should help -- that you should be able to leverage those investments?

正如你所提到的，你們對新工廠進行了巨額投資，包括 Shank's 工廠的新產能和新增銷售團隊的投資。因此，您已經建立了一個平台來推動這些更高的收入，這是非常令人興奮的。我猜您正在經歷贏得客戶的喜悅嗎？您的業務是否正在成長，這是否對您有所幫助—您是否能夠利用這些投資？

We certainly see those investments as key to our strategy. And in terms of what we saw in the first quarter with those types of headwinds, there are some tariff impacts, for example. We think we can work through with our customers. I believe some of that will end up being a timing issue for them if they've had tariff impacts in their supply chain versus tariff impacts with us with our one facility where we're bringing in raw material from China. But we have -- we've built this platform, and we've invested in those R&D, commercial marketing resources and invested in expanding capabilities, not just in the Shank's facility, but in others.

我們當然認為這些投資是我們策略的關鍵。就我們在第一季看到的這些不利因素而言，例如，存在一些關稅影響。我們認為我們可以與客戶一起解決問題。我相信，如果他們的供應鏈受到關稅影響，而我們從中國進口原料的工廠也受到關稅影響，那麼這些最終會成為他們的時間問題。但是我們已經建立了這個平台，我們已經投資了研發、商業行銷資源並投資於擴展能力，不僅是在 Shank 的設施，還包括其他設施。

To give us that opportunity to provide platform products, leveraging the entire platform for customized value-added products for our customers, we are well set up for that. And now, it's a matter of executing on our plans, executing on our commercial strategies to increase those volumes and get pipeline projects from the pipeline to the factory floor and running volume for those factories. We're very pleased with our strategy, with our momentum, and we're going to continue pushing hard for the rest of the year and the years beyond to keep increasing volume.

為了讓我們有機會提供平台產品，利用整個平台為我們的客戶量身打造加值產品，我們已經做好了充分的準備。現在，我們需要執行計劃，執行商業策略來增加產量，並將管道項目從管道轉移到工廠車間，為這些工廠提供運作量。我們對我們的策略和發展勢頭感到非常滿意，我們將在今年剩餘時間和未來幾年繼續努力，繼續增加銷售。

So do you think that margin can increase in the back half of the year for the Ingredients segment versus Q1?

那麼，您認為下半年原料部門的利潤率與第一季相比會增加嗎？

Yes. We have work to do to continue to execute on our strategy and to get things out of the pipeline. Some pipeline projects take months, some might take a year, and they're all in different phases. I'm optimistic for the rest of the year that we would continue to execute on our strategies and continue to drive volume growth and then have the margin opportunities as we continue to increase our volumes. It's a lot of work, but we feel like we've got the right investments and the right teams and the right relationships with the customers and the right strategies to make that happen.

是的。我們也需要繼續努力執行我們的策略並完成各項工作。有些管道專案需要幾個月的時間，有些可能需要一年的時間，而且它們都處於不同的階段。我對今年剩餘時間的表現充滿信心，我們將繼續執行我們的策略，繼續推動銷售成長，並隨著銷售量的不斷增加而獲得利潤機會。這需要大量的工作，但我們覺得我們已經獲得了正確的投資、正確的團隊、與客戶的正確關係以及正確的策略來實現這一目標。

Great. Well, we'll see how the year plays out. Best wishes to Johan and his retirement. That's fantastic. Any update on the announcement of a successor in terms of CFO?

偉大的。好吧，我們看看今年的情況如何。祝約翰退休生活一切順利。太棒了。有關於財務長繼任者宣布的最新消息嗎？

No. We have initiated the process, but no announcements to date. We will keep everybody informed, of course.

不。我們已經啟動了這項流程，但迄今為止還沒有任何公告。當然，我們會隨時向大家通報狀況。

Great. And then I always ask about the use of cash. Any updates there?

偉大的。然後我總是詢問現金的使用情況。有任何更新嗎？

In what sense, Ann?

安，從什麼意義上來說呢？

Are you still there?

你還在嗎？

Technical difficulty, give us one moment. (technical difficulty)

技術困難，請稍等片刻。（技術難度）

Daniel Harriman, Sidoti & Company.

丹尼爾·哈里曼，西多蒂公司。

Congrats on the quarter. I've got 2 questions this morning, and I understand you already hit on both of these in the prepared remarks and then the prior questions. But just for educational purposes, as someone newer to the story, at a high level, could you just walk us through how seasonality and crop carryover typically affect results as the year progresses?

恭喜本季取得佳績。我今天早上有兩個問題，我知道您在準備好的演講和之前的問題中已經提到了這兩個問題。但僅出於教育目的，作為對這個故事比較陌生的人，您能否從高層次向我們介紹季節性和作物結轉通常會如何影響一年中的成果？

Obviously, we know the impact from the first quarter. And then with the oversupply expected in the market, I was just hoping you might be able to comment a little bit on how you're managing that risk of the oversupply while maintaining pricing and inventory discipline as the year goes on.

顯然，我們從第一季就知道了影響。然後，鑑於市場預期會出現供應過剩的情況，我只是希望您能夠稍微評論一下您如何管理供應過剩的風險，同時在今年保持定價和庫存紀律。

Sure, Daniel. I think for carryover for us, a lot of that is timing, a lot of that is mix. It varies year-to-year. And again, with the first quarter being our seasonally low quarter, we're doing less selling and more buying. Small changes in mix, small changes in volume for carryover can make a big difference for the quarter.

當然，丹尼爾。我認為對我們來說，結轉很大程度取決於時間，這很大程度上取決於混合。它每年都有所不同。而且，由於第一季是我們季節性的淡季，我們的銷售量減少，購買量增加。組合的微小變化、結轉量的微小變化都可能對本季產生重大影響。

For us, with the short crops for the past few years, we haven't had much carryover to carryover. Just like last year, as I said in my remarks, there was such high demand. We shipped product earlier in the year, and we just had less carryover to sell into the fourth -- into the first quarter.

對我們來說，由於過去幾年的農作物歉收，我們沒有太多的結轉量。正如我在演講中所說，就像去年一樣，需求非常大。我們在今年稍早就出貨了產品，但到第四季（也就是第一季）可供銷售的庫存較少。

In addition, because uncommitted inventories were so low at the end of the year because it was an undersupplied situation. We didn't have the flexibility that we like with additional uncommitted inventory to be able to make sales towards the end of the season or the end of the year for opportunity purchases with our customers.

此外，由於供應不足，年底未承諾庫存非常低。我們沒有我們所希望的靈活性，沒有額外的未承諾庫存，無法在季末或年底進行銷售，以便與客戶進行機會購買。

And now as we move into a more balanced supply, and then as we said, likely oversupply by the end of the fiscal year, the key for us is access to tobacco. If we can access tobacco, we believe we can sell it, given our strategies and our competitive advantages.

現在，隨著我們進入更平衡的供應階段，然後正如我們所說，到本財政年度末可能會出現供應過剩的情況，對我們來說，關鍵是獲得菸草的途徑。如果我們能夠獲得菸草，我們相信，憑藉我們的策略和競爭優勢，我們就能銷售它。

Our diversified footprint gives us access to all the necessary crops to meet customer needs and our strong relationships with our customers and our close communication with them help us to really mutually navigate market dynamics, shifting from smaller crops and undersupplied to larger crops and balanced or oversupply, those should logically reduce costs, create attractive opportunities, and they should reduce our working capital requirements.

我們多元化的業務佈局使我們能夠獲得滿足客戶需求的所有必要作物，我們與客戶建立的牢固關係以及與他們的密切溝通有助於我們真正地共同駕馭市場動態，從較小的作物產量和供應不足轉向較大的作物產量和平衡或供過於求，這些都應該在邏輯上降低成本，創造有吸引力的機會，並且應該減少我們的營運資金需求。

And as I mentioned earlier, we also benefit from increasing volumes through our factories, which reduces our per kilo cost. We generally prefer balanced to slight oversupply markets for all of those reasons. And we believe we have competitive advantages that make us a really valuable partner for our customers, especially in these changing market dynamics. It provides us more access and more flexibility to meet all of our customers' evolving needs. And what's also really key for us to remember is that we don't buy tobacco on a speculative basis.

正如我之前提到的，我們也受益於工廠產量的增加，降低了每公斤的成本。基於所有這些原因，我們通常更喜歡平衡的市場，而不是略微供過於求的市場。我們相信，我們擁有競爭優勢，可以使我們成為客戶真正有價值的合作夥伴，尤其是在不斷變化的市場動態中。它為我們提供了更多的存取權限和更大的靈活性，以滿足所有客戶不斷變化的需求。我們還需要記住的關鍵一點是，我們購買菸草不是出於投機目的。

We buy it with an understanding of what we believe our customers' needs are so that when you do get into oversupply markets, because we don't buy on a speculative basis, it mitigates that risk that we would end up a year with a lot of uncommitted inventory. And as oversupply continues, what you traditionally see is prices, green prices to the farmer drop year over year until you get back into balance.

我們在購買時會了解客戶的需求，這樣，當市場確實出現供應過剩的情況時，由於我們不會進行投機性購買，因此可以降低一年內出現大量未承諾庫存的風險。隨著供應過剩的持續，你通常會看到價格，農民獲得的綠色價格逐年下降，直到恢復平衡。

And what we're very careful about is understanding what tobacco we have in inventory, how we're going to move it so that we don't end the year with large volumes of expensive tobacco going into another oversupply season. So we have -- there are some unique things for this current change in the market dynamics. We're going from historically high green prices that we just have never seen before.

我們非常謹慎地了解我們庫存中的煙草種類，以及我們將如何轉移這些煙草，這樣我們就不會在年底出現大量昂貴煙草進入另一個供應過剩季節的情況。因此，我們可以看到，當前市場動態的變化存在一些獨特之處。我們的綠色價格正處於歷史最高水平，這是我們以前從未見過的。

But our teams around the world, we're very experienced in dealing with changes in dynamics. These aren't the first times we've seen shifts from undersupplied to oversupplied to balanced supply. And again, based on our global diversified footprint, the advantages that give us, the flexibility that gives us, our strong teams on the ground who are experts in buying tobacco, how to buy it, when to buy it. We think we're very well set up to take advantage of that and to help our customers and also to retain the value that we see in doing business with us.

但我們在世界各地的團隊在應對動態變化方面經驗豐富。這並不是我們第一次看到從供應不足到供應過剩再到供應平衡的轉變。再次強調，基於我們全球多元化的業務佈局，我們擁有許多優勢和靈活性，我們在當地擁有強大的團隊，他們都是菸草採購方面的專家，知道如何購買、何時購買。我們認為我們已經做好了充分的準備來利用這一點，幫助我們的客戶，並保留與我們開展業務所看到的價值。

Great. That's really helpful. And I appreciate your willingness to kind of take a step back there. But congrats on the quarter and best of luck moving forward.

偉大的。這真的很有幫助。我很感激你願意退一步考慮這個問題。但請恭喜本季取得的成績並祝未來一切順利。

And we would like to call out Ann Gurkin for any additional questions.

如果有任何其他問題，我們想請 Ann Gurkin 來回答。

I just wanted to follow up on the use of cash. I know you have an outstanding share repurchase program. And I know you use it for investing in working capital needs and ingredients business, although it sounds like you're going to grow that organically more at this point. That was my question.

我只是想跟進現金的使用情況。我知道你們有一個出色的股票回購計劃。我知道您用它來投資營運資金需求和原料業務，儘管聽起來您現在會更有機地發展這些業務。這就是我的問題。

Yes. And the repurchase and the $100 million that we have out there, we just renewed that and we just have it out there just in case the opportunity arises in any of the situations that you just mentioned. So currently, there are no big plans there, but because we have lots of other things to look at. But yes, it is out there just in case we need it.

是的。我們剛剛續簽了回購協議，並拿出了 1 億美元，以防萬一您剛才提到的任何情況出現機會。所以目前，我們沒有什麼大的計劃，但因為我們還有很多其他的事情要考慮。但是是的，它就在那裡，以備我們需要時使用。

There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Preston Wigner for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我想將電話轉回給普雷斯頓·維格納 (Preston Wigner) 做最後發言。

Thank you, Desiree. Thank you all for joining our call today, and we look forward to speaking to you for our next quarter. So have a very good day.

謝謝你，Desiree。感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議，我們期待在下個季度與您交談。祝您有個愉快的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining, and you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入，現在可以斷開連線了。