Universal Corp (UVV) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

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

女士們、先生們，早安，感謝各位的耐心等待。我叫凱爾文，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。在此，我謹代表環球公司歡迎各位參加 2026 財年第二季財報電話會議。（操作說明）

I would now like to turn the call over to Wushuang, Vice President and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

現在我將把電話交給副總裁兼財務主管吳雙先生。請繼續。

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

早安，感謝各位的參與。今天陪同我的是我們的董事長、總裁兼執行長普雷斯頓·維格納，以及我們的財務長約翰·克羅納。在本次電話會議中，我們將根據我們目前的了解和對未來的一些假設，做出一些前瞻性陳述。以上內容僅代表截至目前為止的情況。

Actual results, performance, or achievements could differ materially from 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. For information on some of the risks and uncertainties related to these forward-looking statements, please refer to the reports we file with the SEC and under cautionary statements regarding forward-looking statements in our current earnings press release.

實際結果、績效或成就可能與此類前瞻性聲明中明示或暗示的預期結果、前景、業績或成就有重大差異，除法律要求外，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。有關這些前瞻性陳述相關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盈利新聞稿中關於前瞻性陳述的警示性聲明。

Finally, some of the information we have for you today may be based on unaudited allocations and may be subject to reclassification. Our comments today 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.

最後，我們今天向您提供的一些資訊可能基於未經審計的分配，並且可能會進行重新分類。我們今天的評論可能還會涉及一些非公認會計準則的財務指標。有關這些措施的詳細信息，包括這些非GAAP指標與最可比較GAAP指標的調節表，請參閱我們當前的盈利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 February 6, 2026, and by telephone through November 20, 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回放至 2026 年 2 月 6 日，也可透過電話回放至 2025 年 11 月 20 日。此通話內容受版權保護，未經許可不得使用。除上述重播外，我們未授權對本次通話的任何錄音、重播或文字記錄進行任何形式的傳播，亦不承擔任何責任。

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

現在我想把電話交給普雷斯頓。

Thank you, Wush. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. We're pleased with our performance in the first half and second quarter of fiscal year 2026. We saw strong operational execution for both segments of our company, and we are working diligently to continue that performance through the second half of our fiscal year.

謝謝你，Wush。各位早安。感謝您今天蒞臨。我們對2026財年上半年和第二季的業績感到滿意。我們看到公司兩個業務部門都展現了強勁的營運執行力，我們正在努力將這種業績延續到本財年的下半年。

Let's begin with our Tobacco Operations segment, which continues to perform well. Tobacco buying is largely complete in most key growing regions, and crop sizes are significantly larger this year following several years of smaller crops due to weather. Green tobacco prices have softened in certain regions compared to the prior fiscal year. Shipments are progressing smoothly, and we are shipping tobacco earlier than we did last year.

我們先來看菸草業務板塊，該板塊持續表現良好。在大多數主要種植區，菸草收購工作已基本完成，而且由於天氣原因，前幾年產量較低，而今年的產量明顯更高。與上一財年相比，某些地區的綠色菸草價格有所下降。出貨進展順利，我們今年的菸草出貨時間比去年更早。

Customer demand has remained firm following several years of undersupply despite significantly larger crops this fiscal year. As expected, carry-over crop sales were lower for the six-month period, reflecting significant shipment volumes earlier in the prior fiscal year. Uncommitted inventory levels remain low and well within our target range.

儘管本財年作物產量大幅成長，但經歷了數年的供應不足後，客戶需求依然強勁。正如預期的那樣，上半年結轉農作物銷售額較低，反映出上一財年早些時候的出貨量較大。未售庫存水準仍然很低，完全在我們的目標範圍內。

We believe that tobacco supply and demand are generally balanced at this point in the fiscal year, and we expect tobacco to move into an oversupply position by yearend. We have historically performed well in slight oversupply market conditions. It allows us to meet customer needs while also pursuing opportunity sales. Our team is experienced in managing oversupply markets, and we are confident in our ability to navigate the change in market dynamics.

我們認為，在本財年目前階段，菸草的供需大致上是平衡的，我們預計到年底菸草將出現供過於求的情況。從歷史經驗來看，我們在略微供過於求的市場環境下表現良好。它使我們能夠在滿足客戶需求的同時，抓住銷售機會。我們的團隊在管理供應過剩市場方面經驗豐富，我們有信心應對市場動態的變化。

Now turning to our Ingredients Operations segment, we maintained positive momentum with higher sales and volume in both the quarter and the six-month period ended September 30. Interest in our new value-added products continues to grow, and we are maintaining an active pipeline. Universal Ingredients' enhanced production and operational capabilities are supporting this growth.

現在來看看我們的原料營運部門，我們在截至 9 月 30 日的季度和六個月期間保持了積極的成長勢頭，銷售額和銷量均有所提高。消費者對我們新推出的增值產品的興趣持續增長，我們也積極拓展產品線。Universal Ingredients公司不斷增強的生產和營運能力正在支持這一成長。

Demand for our new products remains solid, while fixed cost, product mix, and external challenges, including weakness in the consumer packaged goods industry and tariff uncertainty, had a negative impact on earnings. We are taking a proactive approach to meeting our customers' strategic needs, focusing on organic growth and converting customer interest into product sales so we can continue to build scale and generate returns on our investments. We believe the Ingredients segment is well positioned to capitalize on those investments and drive future growth.

對我們新產品的需求仍然強勁，但固定成本、產品組合以及外部挑戰（包括消費品包裝行業的疲軟和關稅的不確定性）對收益產生了負面影響。我們採取積極主動的方式來滿足客戶的策略需求，專注於有機成長，並將客戶興趣轉化為產品銷售，以便我們能夠繼續擴大規模並獲得投資回報。我們相信，原料業務部門已做好充分準備，能夠利用這些投資並推動未來的成長。

I'll turn it over to Johan to walk through our financial and operational performance in more detail. After that, I'll offer some additional thoughts and open the call for questions.

接下來我將交給約翰，讓他更詳細地介紹我們的財務和營運表現。之後，我將提出一些補充想法，並接受提問。

Thank you, Preston. Good morning, everyone. As Preston mentioned, we are pleased with our performance for the first half of fiscal year 2026 with improved results from our Tobacco Operations segment and higher sales volumes in our Ingredients Operations segment. For the first half of the fiscal year, consolidated revenue was up $40 million to $1.3 billion. This increase was driven by higher third-party tobacco processing volumes, accelerated current crop tobacco shipments, and increased sales volumes in our Ingredients Operations segment.

謝謝你，普雷斯頓。各位早安。正如普雷斯頓所提到的，我們對 2026 財年上半年的業績感到滿意，菸草業務部門的業績有所改善，原料業務部門的銷量也有所提高。本財年上半年，合併收入增加 4,000 萬美元，達 13 億美元。這一成長是由第三方菸草加工量增加、當季菸草出貨量加快以及原料業務部門銷售量增加所推動的。

Operating income rose $16 million to $101 million, primarily due to a favorable product mix in the Tobacco Operations segment. Revenue increased $22 million, reflecting higher third-party processing volumes. Segment operating income was up $9 million due to a favorable product mix. While overall tobacco sales volumes were slightly down, about 1%, higher and early shipments of current crop tobacco largely offset lower shipments of carry-over crop tobacco.

營業收入成長 1,600 萬美元至 1.01 億美元，主要得益於菸草業務部門的產品組合優勢。營收成長2,200萬美元，反映出第三方處理量增加。由於產品組合有利，該部門的營業收入增加了 900 萬美元。雖然菸草總銷量略有下降，約 1%，但當季菸草出貨量較高且較早，很大程度上抵消了結轉菸草出貨量的下降。

Segment results reflected continued firm customer demand; a favorable product mix; larger current crop shipments, particularly from Brazil and African origins; and increased third-party processing volumes. These positives were partially offset by higher inventory write-downs. Turning to our Ingredients Operations segment, revenue was up 11% on increased sales volumes. Operating income was lower, reflecting a less favorable product mix, higher fixed costs, including additional depreciation from our recently expanded production facility, and higher inventory write-downs.

業務板塊業績反映了客戶需求持續強勁；產品組合有利；當前農作物出貨量較大，特別是來自巴西和非洲的農作物；以及第三方加工量增加。這些利多因素被更高的庫存減損部分抵消。從我們的原料營運部門來看，由於銷售量增加，收入成長了 11%。營業收入下降，反映出產品組合較不利、固定成本較高（包括最近擴建的生產設施產生的額外折舊）以及庫存減損較高。

Finishing up, on the first half of fiscal year 2026, we are focused on managing our working capital. Additional purchases of tobacco due to larger crop size increased our inventory versus the same period last year. Despite that, net debt was down $52 million on September 30 compared to the same date last year. We had approximately $340 million available under our revolving credit facility as of September 30, and interest expense was down $4 million year over year.

最後，在 2026 財年上半年，我們將重點放在管理我們的營運資金上。由於作物產量增加，我們額外採購了菸草，導致庫存量比去年同期增加。儘管如此，截至9月30日，淨債務比去年同期減少了5,200萬美元。截至 9 月 30 日，我們的循環信貸額度約為 3.4 億美元，利息支出較去年同期下降 400 萬美元。

Now looking at our second-quarter results, consolidated revenue was up $43 million to $754 million, driven by higher tobacco ingredients sales volumes. Operating income decreased $1 million to $68 million, with higher sales volumes and lower restructuring and impairment costs slightly offset by unfavorable foreign currency comparisons, higher inventory write-downs, and increased provisions for farmer advances.

現在來看看我們第二季的業績，綜合收入成長了 4,300 萬美元，達到 7.54 億美元，這主要得益於菸草原料銷量的成長。營業收入減少 100 萬美元至 6,800 萬美元，銷售量增加和重組及減損成本降低略微抵消了不利的匯率比較、更高的庫存減損和增加的農民預付款準備金。

In the Tobacco Operations segment, revenue rose $29 million on a 3% increase in tobacco sales volumes. However, segment operating income declined by $12 million due to unfavorable foreign currency comparisons, higher inventory write-downs, and a less favorable product mix.

在菸草業務部門，由於菸草銷量成長了 3%，收入增加了 2,900 萬美元。然而，由於不利的匯率比較、更高的庫存減損以及不太有利的產品組合，該部門的營業收入下降了 1,200 萬美元。

The Ingredients Operations segment delivered higher revenues on increased sales volumes. Operating income, however, was lower in the quarter despite those volumes, reflecting ongoing challenges in the consumer packaged goods industry, tariff uncertainty, higher fixed costs from our expanded facility, and higher inventory write-downs. And finally, restructuring and impairment costs for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 were $10.6 million. We did not have any restructuring and impairment costs in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026.

原料營運部門的銷售成長帶來了更高的收入。儘管銷量如此，但本季營業收入卻有所下降，這反映出消費品包裝產業持續面臨挑戰、關稅不確定性、擴建工廠帶來的固定成本增加以及庫存減損增加。最後，2025 財年第二季的重整和減損成本為 1,060 萬美元。2026財年第二季度，我們沒有產生任何重組和減損成本。

I would like to now turn the conversation back to Preston.

現在我想把話題轉回普雷斯頓身上。

Thank you, Johan. We are pleased with the first half of our fiscal year. We are absolutely committed to continuing our strong operational performance through the second half. We will also continue to find opportunities and the challenges. Our diverse global footprint, longstanding customer relationships, deep local expertise and the unique value Universal offers our customers support our strategic commitment to growth.

謝謝你，約翰。我們對上半年的財政業績感到滿意。我們絕對致力於在下半年繼續保持強勁的營運表現。我們將繼續尋找機遇，迎接挑戰。我們多元化的全球佈局、長期的客戶關係、深厚的本地專業知識以及環球影業為客戶提供的獨特價值，都為我們對成長的策略承諾提供了支持。

Our Tobacco Operations team remains focused on maximizing and optimizing our tobacco business. This includes offering additional services to our customers and leveraging our deep experience to navigate changing market conditions, including the expected shift to an oversupply environment later this fiscal year. At the same time, our Ingredients platform is continuing its momentum and is focused on growth. With our expanded facility, we will capitalize on our investments in extraction, blending, aseptic packaging, and other capabilities.

我們的菸草營運團隊將繼續專注於最大限度地提高和優化我們的菸草業務。這包括向我們的客戶提供更多服務，並利用我們豐富的經驗來應對不斷變化的市場環境，包括預計在本財年稍後出現的供應過剩環境。同時，我們的原料平台正保持成長勢頭，並專注於發展。隨著我們工廠的擴建，我們將充分利用我們在萃取、混合、無菌包裝和其他能力方面的投資。

We're also focused on strengthening and expanding our customer engagement. Our sales, marketing, and product development teams proactively showcase our abilities and help convert customer interest into product sales. We remain committed to driving organic growth, creating value across the platform and delivering customized, differentiated solutions to our customers.

我們也致力於加強和擴大與客戶的互動。我們的銷售、行銷和產品開發團隊積極展示我們的能力，並幫助將客戶的興趣轉化為產品銷售。我們將繼續致力於推動有機成長，在整個平台上創造價值，並為客戶提供客製化的、差異化的解決方案。

As we continue to focus on delivering long-term value, our commitment to sustainability strengthens our operations and manages risk across our company. We continue to make meaningful progress in our transition to renewable and lower emission energy sources. We have significantly expanded our use of clean electricity as an important element of our carbon transition plan.

我們始終致力於創造長期價值，對永續發展的承諾也增強了我們的運營，並管理了公司各方面的風險。我們在向再生能源和低排放能源轉型方面持續取得實質進展。作為碳轉型計畫的重要組成部分，我們已大幅擴大清潔電力的使用。

This continued progress demonstrates our strong commitment to operational efficiency and environmental stewardship. Investing in clean energy, such as on-site installations at our operations in Italy, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines, supports our sustainability goals, strengthens the resilience of our operations, and creates long-term value for our stakeholders.

這項持續進展體現了我們對營運效率和環境保護的堅定承諾。投資清潔能源，例如在我們位於義大利、多明尼加共和國和菲律賓的營運場所進行現場安裝，有助於實現我們的永續發展目標，增強我們營運的韌性，並為我們的利害關係人創造長期價值。

To wrap up, Universal continues to execute with discipline across key areas of our business. The first half of our fiscal year saw solid performance, advanced operational execution, and meaningful progress in our sustainability efforts. These results reflect our commitment to long-term value creation, resilience and responsible growth, and position us well for the second half of fiscal year 2026.

總而言之，環球影業在各個關鍵業務領域持續保持嚴謹的執行力。本財年上半年業績穩健，營運執行力強，永續發展工作取得了顯著進展。這些成果體現了我們對長期價值創造、韌性和負責任成長的承諾，並為我們2026財年下半年的發展奠定了良好的基礎。

Thank you again for joining us today. We'll now open the call for questions.

再次感謝您今天蒞臨。現在開始接受提問。

(Operator Instructions) Daniel Harriman, Sidoti.

（操作說明）丹尼爾·哈里曼，西多蒂。

Hey, guys, good morning. Congrats on the quarter and thanks so much for taking my questions. I'll start off with two today, one for each segment, and I'll begin with Ingredients. Preston, you mentioned solid demand for your value-added products but also, obviously, mix, fixed costs, and broader consumer weakness weighed on earnings.

嘿，各位，早安。恭喜你本季取得好成績，非常感謝你回答我的問題。今天我將從兩個部分開始，每個部分一個，首先是“配料”。普雷斯頓，你提到了對你的加值產品有強勁的需求，但顯然，產品組合、固定成本和更廣泛的消費者疲軟也對收益造成了壓力。

To the extent that you can, can you give us a sense of where utilization stands now at Lancaster and then how quickly you expect fixed cost absorption to improve as you continue to scale volume there? And then with tobacco, I was just hoping to kind of get your thoughts on -- with larger crops and softer green leaf pricing, as the new crop shipments continue to ramp, what are your thoughts and how confident are you on pricing discipline and margins through the back half of the year?

盡可能地，您能否介紹一下蘭卡斯特工廠目前的利用率情況，以及隨著工廠規模的不斷擴大，您預計固定成本吸收率將以多快的速度提高？至於菸草方面，我只是想聽聽您的看法——隨著新作物出貨量的持續增加，產量增加，鮮葉價格走低，您對下半年的價格控制和利潤率有何看法和信心？

Thanks, Daniel. I'll start with Ingredients. Yes, that's -- with that new facility that we've enhanced the capabilities and the investments for our campus for our extracts business, the goal is to fill that facility and to build scale, not just there, but across the platform. And we are off to a good start from where we were just a year ago, ribbon cutting. I'm very pleased with the progress we've made to grow revenues, to get volume through there, and to maintain and increase an active pipeline.

謝謝你，丹尼爾。我先從食材開始。是的，有了這個新設施，我們提高了園區內提取物業務的能力和投資，目標是充分利用該設施並擴大規模，不僅在這個園區，而且在整個平台上。與一年前剪綵儀式相比，我們現在的開局非常順利。我對我們在增加收入、提高銷售以及維持和增加活躍銷售管道方面取得的進展感到非常滿意。

A lot of that pipeline conversion is a long process, and it's a slog that our team fights on a daily basis. First, proactively making sure we're reaching out to customers to understand what their needs are, to meet with those customers and offer them the products and solutions that they need, as well as understanding their evolving needs and future needs and what can we produce for them that they may not use today, but they'll use in products going forward.

很多頻道轉換都是一個漫長的過程，我們的團隊每天都在為此而努力。首先，我們要主動聯繫客戶，了解他們的需求，與客戶會面，為他們提供所需的產品和解決方案，同時了解他們不斷變化的需求和未來的需求，以及我們可以為他們生產哪些他們現在可能不會使用，但將來會在產品中使用的產品。

And all of those projects in the pipeline move at different speeds. And we're very pleased with how we're converting the pipeline, how we're growing our products and our sales. And we're building scale. And yes, we've got to cover those additional costs, and that will take time. But as those product interest and pipeline interest turn into volume, I'm confident that we will continue to increase our scale, increase our volumes and sales, and we'll be able to cover those costs going forward.

所有這些正在籌備中的專案進度各不相同。我們對通路轉換、產品成長和銷售情況都非常滿意。我們正在擴大規模。是的，我們必須支付這些額外費用，而這需要時間。但隨著這些產品興趣和研發項目興趣轉化為實際銷量，我相信我們將繼續擴大規模，提高銷量和銷售額，並且我們將能夠涵蓋未來的這些成本。

On the tobacco side, I'm very comfortable with where we are in the year. I'm very comfortable with what I see for the second half of the year for this year, certainly because we don't buy on a speculative basis. Our uncommitted inventory is low at 13%. And we have lots of tobacco we need to ship for the second half of the year.

就菸草業務而言，我對今年的情況非常滿意。我對今年下半年的前景非常樂觀，這主要是因為我們不會進行投機性投資。我們未售出的庫存量很低，只有 13%。我們還有很多煙草需要在下半年發貨。

But I'm confident in our ability to convert that. It's going to be subject to timing on shipments. And assuming there's no unforeseen market disruptions, we'll get those shipments out. And I'm comfortable with pricing. I talked about green pricing. There are really large crops this year. Green pricing, as I mentioned, has softened in certain markets, but it's been a little bit of a variety in the different markets.

但我相信我們有能力實現這一目標。這取決於發貨時間。假設沒有出現無法預見的市場幹擾，我們將能夠發出這些貨物。我對價格很滿意。我談到了綠色定價。今年莊稼大豐收。正如我之前提到的，某些市場的綠色產品定價有所緩和，但不同市場的情況略有不同。

Some markets have softened a little bit. Some are stable from where they were last year. Some might even be up. Some markets were down. And then at the tail end of the buying season, they went back up, which is really a reflection of that -- still that firm demand. And with that firm demand and still pretty stable pricing, I'm very comfortable with where we're going. We just have to see how shipments end up throughout the third and the fourth quarter.

部分市場略有疲軟。有些事物與去年相比保持穩定。有些可能還會醒著。部分市場下跌。然後在採購季末，價格又回升了，這確實反映了這一點——仍然是強勁的需求。鑑於市場需求強勁且價格依然穩定，我對我們的發展方向感到非常有信心。我們只需要看看第三季和第四季的出貨量最終會如何變化。

Thanks, Preston. That's really helpful. And again, congrats on the quarter.

謝謝你，普雷斯頓。這真的很有幫助。再次恭喜你本季取得佳績。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ann Gurkin, Davenport.

安古爾金，達文波特。

Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions.

早安.謝謝您回答我的問題。

Hi, Ann.

嗨，安。

Hi. So I wanted to start with the Ingredient segment. I'm surprised by the loss in the second quarter. I understand the reasons. So my first question is, you touched on a little bit about conversion and the pace of conversion from the customer interest versus your internal expectations. And is it a factor of end markets slower, customers are more challenged, maybe waiting to see how inventories are going to align or sales are going to align? Can you just talk about kind of the pace of conversion?

你好。所以我決定先從食材部分開始。我對第二季的失利感到驚訝。我理解其中的原因。所以我的第一個問題是，您剛才稍微提到了轉換率以及客戶興趣與您內部預期之間的轉換速度。這是否與終端市場成長放緩、客戶面臨更多挑戰，或許是觀望庫存或銷售狀況如何調整有關？您能談談轉換率的大致情況嗎？

Sure. Yes, it's -- I think all those factors you mentioned impact the platform across the board, not just one part of our platform. And I'm very pleased with how we've navigated that through the quarter, through the first half, where we've had top-line growth in a market that's really been difficult for CPG companies and lots of people in the industry to achieve growth with the types of headwinds that are out there.

當然。是的，我認為你提到的所有因素都會對整個平台產生影響，而不僅僅是我們平台的某個部分。我對我們在本季和上半年所取得的業績感到非常滿意，我們在一個消費品公司和業內許多人都難以在當前逆風環境下實現成長的市場中，實現了營收成長。

And some headwinds might affect us directly, like tariff, for example, on raw materials that we might bring in. And some are impacting us indirectly. If they're impacting our customers, then they potentially impact us. And we've seen some of that in the quarter. Our teams on the ground are very experienced in managing procurement and particularly with our dry vegetable ingredient company, navigating tariffs, which they've done in the past, balancing their procurement strategies and their inventory strategies to try to service their customers while also trying to protect margins and returns.

有些不利因素可能會直接影響我們，例如，對我們進口的原料徵收關稅。有些影響是間接的。如果它們影響到我們的客戶，那麼它們也可能影響到我們。本季我們已經看到了一些這樣的情況。我們當地的團隊在採購管理方面經驗非常豐富，尤其是在我們與乾蔬菜配料公司合作的過程中，他們能夠應對關稅問題（他們過去就做過），平衡採購策略和庫存策略，以便在服務客戶的同時，努力保護利潤和回報。

But overall, for the project pipeline, that's hard to predict because everything is moving in sort of different speeds. Some things -- because of our broad kind of product portfolio, some things a customer needs are core products that we've got. And it might be something like vanilla. And with vanilla, vanilla pricing is an all-time low for the raw product. And so we might have very good margins on vanilla. But on a dollar basis, those are down because the raw material is down.

但總的來說，對於專案流程而言，這很難預測，因為每個專案的進度都不太一樣。由於我們擁有廣泛的產品組合，客戶需要的一些東西正是我們現有的核心產品。它可能像香草味一樣。而且，香草的價格也處於歷史最低點。因此，香草的利潤率可能會非常高。但以美元計算，這些價格下跌是因為原物料價格下跌。

Other areas, there might be opportunities for us to sell a product to a customer that's core for an existing line of our business, but we can add sales of other core products from other existing lines of our business through our platform commercial sales and having some commercial synergies across the platform to grow sales that way.

在其他領域，我們或許有機會向現有業務線的核心客戶銷售產品，但我們也可以透過平台商業銷售，以及平台內的商業綜效，增加其他現有業務線核心產品的銷售額，從而實現銷售成長。

And then for value-added products, some are new products to customers. Some are existing products that we are trying to transform with additional products in the portfolio to make a value-added blend for customers. And if it's switching out an existing product that they're getting from another vendor to us, that might work at a certain pace.

此外，對於加值產品而言，有些是顧客新購買的產品。有些是現有產品，我們正在嘗試將其與產品組合中的其他產品結合，為客戶創造增值組合。如果用我們的產品取代他們目前從其他供應商採購的產品，那麼在一定程度上可能會奏效。

If it's a new product that we've offered that they aren't getting from somebody else and it's a customized solution that we're providing, that might take longer to get through the pipeline. So it's hard to convert the pipeline into weeks and months and years of conversion. It's a real mix. And the current environment does factor into that for our customers. If it impacts our customers, it potentially impacts us.

如果是我們提供的新產品，他們無法從其他管道獲得，而且是我們提供客製化解決方案，那麼可能需要更長的時間才能完成整個流程。因此，很難將銷售管道轉化為數週、數月甚至數年的轉換。真是五花八門。而當前的環境確實會對我們的客戶產生影響。如果它影響到我們的客戶，那麼也可能影響到我們。

Great. Thank you for all that conversation. So for the year, for Ingredients, can you deliver profits in line with what you delivered last year?

偉大的。感謝你們的交流。那麼，就今年而言，就食材業務而言，你們能否實現與去年持平的利潤？

Yes. I think this year, I'm very happy with where we are for the first half. I'm very pleased with what I see moving forward and the work and the effort that's getting -- that's going into it. I'm very happy with what we've built and the resources that are helping us grow on the top line. We still have significant costs to cover. And as we've said, we're always focused on growing scale to cover those costs across the platform, not just for our Shank's expansion investment.

是的。我認為今年上半年我們取得的成績非常滿意。我對目前的發展方向以及為此付出的努力和心血感到非常滿意。我對我們所取得的成就以及幫助我們實現營收成長的資源感到非常滿意。我們仍有大量費用需要支付。正如我們所說，我們始終專注於擴大規模以涵蓋整個平台的成本，而不僅僅是我們對 Shank's 的擴張投資。

So we're going to have to wait and see for the rest of the year how market conditions change, how the headwinds change, tariff variability. Are there going to be changes with the Supreme Court ruling and tariffs? What's that going to impact for our customers? How are they going to change their ordering and buying strategies? So it's still early in the year to figure out where we might be for Ingredients by the end of the year.

所以，我們只能拭目以待，看看今年餘下的時間裡市場狀況如何變化，不利因素如何變化，關稅如何波動。最高法院的裁決會帶來關稅方面的改變嗎？這將對我們的客戶產生什麼影響？他們將如何改變訂購和購買策略？所以現在判斷年底前我們的原料供應情況還為時過早。

Great, okay. Switching to Tobacco, nice to see a stronger-than-expected quarter and margin than we were looking for on the Tobacco segment. And the end market demand or customer buying was stronger than we would have thought given the movement of the industry into balanced or slight oversupply situation. So I was wondering how much of the quarter upside in Tobacco was due to earlier shipments. Can you quantify that number?

好的。轉而關注煙草業務，很高興看到煙草業務的季度業績和利潤率都超出了我們的預期。考慮到產業正處於供需平衡或略微過剩的狀態，終端市場需求或客戶購買力比我們預想的要強。所以我想知道煙草業務本季的增長有多少是由於之前的出貨造成的。你能量化這個數字嗎？

We don't quantify the number. We did have accelerated shipments, and we still -- with larger crops and still firm demand, we still have a lot of tobacco left to ship in the second half. So again, with -- as always, shipping can impact quarter to quarter and fourth quarter into the first quarter. But we're very pleased with where we are and really optimistic for the second half of the year.

我們不量化這個數字。我們的出貨速度確實加快了，而且由於作物產量增加，需求依然強勁，下半年我們仍然有很多菸草需要出貨。所以，和往常一樣，運輸可能會影響季度之間的變化，甚至影響第四季到第一季的業績。但我們對目前的狀況非常滿意，並且對下半年充滿信心。

So the decline in the uncommitted inventory from, I think it was 20% last quarter to 13% this quarter, was that accelerated shipment? Was that all pulled forward in this accelerated shipment number? Or is there some other factor in that decline in uncommitted tobacco leaf inventory number?

因此，未承諾庫存從上季度的 20% 下降到本季的 13%，這是由於出貨速度加快所致嗎？所有這些是否都包含在這次加速出貨的訂單中了？或者說，未售菸葉庫存數量下降還有其他因素嗎？

And that's methodology, right? At the end of the day, depending on how you do it, but we want to be consistent. So year over year, that's the way we do it, quarter by quarter. So no, that's not really reflective of that. We're really happy with the 13%. And clearly, we're sitting on a slug of tobacco. Inventory is still up. So we expect to ship a lot of that in the next six months.

這就是方法論，對吧？歸根結底，這取決於你如何做，但我們希望保持一致性。所以，我們就是這樣逐年、逐季地進行計算的。所以，不，這並不能真正反映這一點。我們對13%的漲幅非常滿意。顯然，我們手上握著一大堆菸草。庫存仍然充足。因此，我們預計未來六個月內將大量出貨。

Great. And for the full year, where do you anticipate that uncommitted inventory number being? Do you think you'll stay within your comfort range?

偉大的。那麼，您預計全年未售庫存數量會是多少？你認為你會待在舒適圈嗎？

I think -- well, I think we'll stay within the comfort range. We're in the comfort range right now. Yes, there's still a lot to go, depends on shipping, timing, making sure we get customer shipping instructions early enough to get it out for the year. But because we don't buy on a speculative basis, we are very comfortable with current levels and where we're going. But we do communicate on almost a daily basis with our customers to make sure that the tobacco ships as we end the year going into another year of large crops.

我認為——嗯，我認為我們會保持在舒適範圍內。我們現在處於舒適範圍內。是的，還有很多工作要做，這取決於運輸、時間安排，以及確保我們能儘早收到客戶的運輸指示，以便在年內發貨。但由於我們不進行投機性購買，所以我們對目前的水平和未來的發展方向都非常有信心。但我們幾乎每天都與客戶溝通，以確保菸草能夠順利發貨，同時我們即將迎來另一個豐收年。

Great. SG&A was lower than we were looking for. Should we use that number in the back half?

偉大的。銷售、管理及行政費用低於我們的預期。後半部我們應該使用那個數字嗎？

You know well as anybody, Ann, that it all depends on a bunch of variables there. Even between the quarter and the six months, there were some things that were different. We had some favorable FX variances on one side, and then we had some other things going on. So it really depends on what the back end of the year brings, and we'll go from there. But there is just a lot of variables out there, exchange rates, what are they going to do going forward. We'll have to see.

安，你比任何人都清楚，這一切都取決於很多變數。即使在季度末和半年末之間，也存在一些不同之處。一方面，我們遇到了一些有利的匯率波動；另一方面，又發生了其他的事情。所以這真的取決於今年下半年的情況，我們再根據情況決定。但目前存在著許多變數，例如匯率，以及它們未來的走勢。我們拭目以待。

And the same question for interest expense.

利息支出也存在同樣的問題。

Interest expense, we're really trying to bring down that leverage. I think we -- year over year, we have done a good job there. It all depends on how quickly can we ship this tobacco and bring down that leverage even further.

利息支出方面，我們正在努力降低槓桿。我認為我們——年復一年，我們在這方面都做得很好。這一切都取決於我們能以多快的速度運送這些菸草，並進一步削弱對方的議價能力。

Great. And then do you have a worldwide uncommitted leaf inventory number?

偉大的。那麼，你們是否有全球未售出的葉片庫存數量？

Yes, so the worldwide estimated unsold flue-cured and burley, stocks were at 101 million kilos as of September 30. And that's up 76 million kilos from June 30 of this year.

是的，截至 9 月 30 日，全球未售出的煙燻煙和白肋煙庫存估計為 1.01 億公斤。與今年6月30日相比，增加了7600萬公斤。

Is that because of large oversupply?

是因為供應嚴重過剩嗎？

Because of the large crops, right?

因為農作物豐收，對吧？

Yes, large crops.

是的，作物大豐收。

Crops -- sorry, large crops?

農作物－抱歉，是大量農作物？

Yes. Yes, ma'am.

是的。是的，女士。

Okay, great. Thank you all. Thank you very much.

好的，太好了。謝謝大家。非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

There are no further questions at this time. And with that, I will turn the call back over to Preston Wigner for final closing remarks. Please go ahead.

目前沒有其他問題了。接下來，我將把電話轉回給普雷斯頓·維格納，請他作最後的總結發言。請繼續。

Thank you all for taking the time to join us today. We look forward to connecting again for the third-quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings call.

感謝各位今天抽空參加我們的活動。我們期待在 2026 財年第三季財報電話會議上再次與您聯繫。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. We thank you for participating. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路了。