Becle, S.A.B. de C.V. ($CUERVO)

Good morning, and thank you for joining Becle's First Quarter Unaudited Financial Results Call. During this call, you may hear certain forward-looking statements. These statements may relate to our future prospects, developments and business strategies and may be identified by our use of terms and phrases such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend and similar terms and phrases and may include references to assumptions. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that the figures discussed on this call were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, and published in the Mexican Stock Exchange. The information for the first quarter of 2026 is preliminary and is provided with the understanding that once financial statements are available, updated information will be shared in the appropriate electronic formats. [Operator Instructions] Now I will pass the call on to Becle's CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckmann.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Becle's first quarter 2026 results. We faced a challenging quarter, primarily driven by a significant distributor transition program in the U.S., which resulted in a 13.4% volume decline. Importantly, this impact does not reflect the underlying performance of the business. We view this as a forward-looking investment in our commercial foundation, establishing a stronger platform for long-term growth, although with temporary disruption to shipments. On an organic basis, performance in the U.S. was affected by inventory resets versus year-end 2025 and continued softness in full strength spirits consumption. Mauricio will provide a more detailed breakdown of first quarter depletions across both transition and non-transition markets, offer greater visibility into underlying trends. In Mexico, our momentum remained strong throughout the quarter, and our brands not only held their ground but consistently gained market share across both the tequila category and total spirits. Finally, our Rest of the World region also sustained its positive momentum with both shipments and depletions growing. We continue to perform resiliently and underlying category dynamics remain constructive. The strategic investments we have made to build our diversified global spirits portfolio proved their value this quarter, cushioning the impact of what we communicated last quarter would be transitional period in the -- would be a transitional period in the U.S. With that, I will turn it over to Mauricio Vergara to walk us through our U.S. and Canada results in greater detail.

Thank you, Juan, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, our performance in the U.S. and Canada region reflected a continuation of the trends we outlined in the previous call. As expected, this is a period of transition for the business, driven by the execution of our distributor realignment strategy and deliberate actions to reduce inventory levels following the build we saw at the end of 2025. While reported results for the quarter were soft, they were in line with our expectations. In this context, shipments declined 23.8% during the quarter, reflecting both intentional inventory reductions and the ongoing distributor transition. As we have highlighted, shipments are not fully representative of underlying demand in this environment. Depletions provide a clear view of performance, declining 9% overall. Importantly, this reflects a divergence between transition and non-transition markets, with transition markets declining approximately 12%, while non-transition markets declined around 5%, which is better than the industry. This distinction remains critical to understand the underlying performance of the business. From a category standpoint, headwinds for the full-strength spirits have intensified during the quarter. According to C-stores, data through February, full-strength spirits depletions declined 7.1% with tequila down 6.2%, meaning it is holding up better than most categories, but still clearly declining within a contracting environment. At the same time, prepared cocktails remained the primary growth driver in the industry, with the gap between ready-to-drink formats and full-strength spirits continuing to widen. In our portfolio, RTD delivered double-digit growth, supported by increased focus and investment. Within this environment, our own portfolio performance reflects both the category backdrop and the impact of the distributor transition. Year-to-date Nielsen data through March 21 shows that Proximo Tequila volumes declined 3.9% compared to flat performance for the industry, while Proximo Spirits volumes, excluding prepared cocktails, declined 4.9% versus a 3.1% decline of the broader market. While this reflects some short-term pressure, it is important to recognize that transition markets represent the largest portion of the markets measured by Nielsen. From an inventory standpoint, we're actively rebalancing stock levels as we move inventory from our previous distributors to the new partners. This process will continue throughout the year and will keep shipments somewhat volatile as they reflect both destocking and transition-related movements. Importantly, the transition is progressing as expected with no material supply disruptions, although we are still working through gaps in distribution coverage, promotional continuity and retail execution across these transition markets. We are now focused on leveraging the strength of our new distributor partners to drive consistency in execution and are confident that once the transition is stabilized, our distribution and execution standards will show important improvements versus historical levels. Turning to pricing. The environment remains highly competitive with continued pressure across categories as companies compete for share in a slowing market. Our approach remains disciplined as we believe avoiding aggressive discounting is critical to protecting long-term brand equity and margin integrity. From a channel perspective, on-premise continues to outperform off-premise by approximately 200 basis points, and we see this as a key opportunity. We are increasing our focus and shifting investment towards high-impact accounts in major cities as this channel remains critical for brand building and long-term growth. Looking ahead, we are investing in what is working, including Reposado small formats, the Jose Cuervo Sparkling relaunch, prepared cocktails and accelerated expansion in the on-premise channel. These are areas where demand remains more resilient and where we are focusing our efforts. While near-term pressures persist, we remain confident in the long-term strength of the U.S. spirits market and in our ability to deliver sustainable growth. I will now turn the call over to Olga Limon to discuss Mexico.

Thank you, Mauricio, and good morning, everyone. Moving to Mexico. The spirits industry remains under pressure with year-over-year declines in both volume and value in the quarter. That said, the pace of contraction has moderated compared to last year. Relative to this challenging industry context, we began the year positively, underpinned by our resilient performance. To provide a more accurate view of our underlying business, it is important to look at results, excluding the b:oost brand. On the basis, we delivered volume growth of 6.1% in the quarter, supported by our tequila portfolio, which grew 7%. According to [ NISCAN ] data through February, our performance in Mexico continues to outpace the industry. While total spirits industry volume declined 3.2%, our portfolio declined 1.3%. In value terms, we declined 3% against an industry decline of 6.3%. Within the tequila, while the category declined 0.8% in volume, we outperformed, delivering slight growth of 0.1%. In value terms for the category, we declined 1.8% against an industry decline of 5.4%. These results underscore the continued strength of our portfolio and our undisputed leadership position in Mexico. During the quarter, product mix shifted slightly towards the value segment as our lower-end brands offer consumers a compelling value proposition. Importantly, this does not reflect downtrading as the higher-end segment continued to grow, although at a more moderate pace. Additionally, the exit of [ foods ], which carried a dilutive price per case is contributing to an importance in the overall mix of our portfolio. From a pricing standpoint, while some peers have taken a more aggressive promotional approach, we have maintained our position as pricing leaders. As a result, our focus remains on execution and market share rather than pricing. Overall, despite a difficult environment, we remain confident in our ability to continue gaining share and strengthening our leadership position across Mexico and the broader region. I will now turn the call over to Shane Hoyne. Thank you.

Thank you, Olga, and good morning, everyone. The first quarter of 2026 marked the third consecutive quarter of growth for the EMEA and APAC region. This reflects the underlying strength of our brands and what remains a relatively flat market environment. We are seeing a recovery in Asia following the market volatility experienced in 2025, while performance across EMEA remains supported by steady demand. That said, certain markets, particularly in the Middle East, are still experiencing some instability, and it remains to be seen how this will evolve over the remainder of the year. Both shipments and depletions increased versus the prior year. Shipments grew 15%, while depletions increased 8.4%. While there can be periods where shipments and depletions move at different paces, these dynamics tend to balance out over the course of the year. Inventory levels across the region are beginning to normalize following the fluctuations observed through 2025 as external factors impacted distributor behavior. However, pricing conditions remain relatively competitive -- sorry, highly competitive, and we expect this to remain a consistent theme across markets as we move into through 2026. From a category perspective, our tequila portfolio continues to gain momentum across the region, supported by growing consumer interest and a deeper understanding of the category. As mentioned in the previous call, we are increasingly seeing tequila gaining share from Other Spirits, reinforcing its position across the spirits landscape. Overall, while the EMEA and APAC region remains exposed to a complex and evolving environment, Becle is delivering resilient performance and category fundamentals continue to support long-term growth. As we look ahead to the remainder of 2026, we remain confident in the opportunity for tequila to drive both volume and value expansion across the region. Our portfolio strength and established route-to-market strategy position us well to capture these opportunities. I will now pass you over to Rodrigo, who will take you through the financial results.

Thank you, Shane, and good morning, everyone. I will now walk you through the financial results for the first quarter of 2026. The company reported a 23.1% decrease in consolidated net sales, reaching MXN 7.4 billion. This decline reflects foreign currency effects from the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar. On a constant currency basis, our top line decreased by 13.5% for the quarter, in line with the shipments volume decline influenced by the distributor transition in the U.S. Gross profit decreased by 29.7% in the first quarter to MXN 3.9 billion, while gross margin decreased from 57.8% in the first quarter of '25 to 52.8% in the first quarter of 2026. The decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by foreign currency effects related to the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar as well as an adverse regional mix. This was partially offset by an improved product mix and a stable agave input cost. On a constant currency basis, gross margin would have been 56.1% for the quarter. AMP expenses declined 24.9%, closing the quarter at 20.4% as a percentage of sales, aligned with our full year AMP guidance for 2026. Distribution expenses decreased by 15.1%, while SG&A expenses increased 2.6%, reflecting continued discipline on overhead and strong cost control across the organization. Despite these efficiencies, our EBITDA for the first quarter declined 52.5% with EBITDA margin contracting 860 basis points to 13.9%. Adjusting for FX, EBITDA margin would have been 16.7%. First quarter consolidated net income decreased 66.5% to MXN 390 million with the net margin at 5.3% compared to 12.1% in the first quarter of last year. Earnings per share were MXN 0.11 compared to MXN 0.34 (sic) [ MXN 0.32 ] for the first quarter of 2025. As of March 31, 2026, cash and cash equivalents totaled MXN 11.2 billion, while total debt was MXN 19.2 billion, a decrease of MXN 7.5 billion compared to the prior year. In the first 3 months of 2026, the company generated MXN 2.4 billion in net cash from operating activities, primarily reflecting working capital discipline. Our balance sheet remains very strong with adjusted net leverage of 1x, in line with our target range of 1 to 1.5x. We remain confident in our long-term free cash flow generation and maintain flexibility to deploy capital effectively. In this context, we will propose a cash dividend payment and an extension of our share repurchase program at today's General Shareholders' Meeting. Finally, we are confirming our 2026 guidance of low single-digit consolidated net sales value decline on a constant currency basis. I will now turn the call back to the operator for the questions and answer session. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Nadine Sarwat. Please state your company name and ask your question.

This is Nadine Sarwat from Bernstein. I have 2, please, both on the U.S. The first, when it comes to the very big gap we saw in Q1 in the U.S. between shipments and depletions, can you help us understand how much of that gap was due to, a, the distributor transition versus b, the action to reduce inventories in the system more broadly? That's my first question. And then the second, how should we think about U.S. shipments versus depletion in Q2?

Thank you, Nadine. This is Mauricio. So let me -- I'll take the first one in terms of the -- how much is what. So even though it's very difficult to really point or pinpoint the exact numbers, what I can tell you is that a big part of the -- of that gap on shipments is driven by the destocking. If we look at our last year, a lot of the highest inventory levels we had were in RNDC markets. So as we're transitioning, we're making sure that in addition to focusing on the right execution, we are resetting the right levels of inventory in the new distributors. To give you a little bit more color, as I mentioned during the script, the performance in non-transition markets, the decline in those non-transition markets, it's around 5% compared to the industry that is declining at -- if you look at C-stores, 6% to 7%. So I think that when you look at our non-transition markets, we're actually performing better than the industry, which tells you that a big expectation in our depletions is definitely driven by the transition markets, which takes me to link to your second question. The destocking, because it's a significant amount, it will continue into Q2. Now what I can also say, which is what I'm looking at the initial numbers of April is our Q2 depletions will definitely show an improvement versus Q1. So the way I'm looking at the year is that every quarter, from a depletions perspective, we're going to start seeing a significant improvement as we stabilize the transition. Now in terms of the destocking, that will continue again through the rest of the maybe Q1, Q2, and we will stabilize both things as we get into the second half of the year.

Our next question comes from the line of Froylan Mendez. Please state your company name and ask your question.

This is Froylan Mendez from JPMorgan. A question in the U.S., too. If -- can you just explain to us, Mauricio, a little bit how does these transition markets are working? And what are the risks that if you are not able to supply the different channels because of this transition that the -- let's say, the underperformance versus peers is exacerbated in the next quarters? Because probably you are not putting inventory into the different channels because of this transition, other brands are doing it. So is there a risk that even when the transition is completed, you are a little bit behind and the destocking process takes a little bit longer because your product was in a certain way, replaced by other brands that were able to supply the channels or you were under this transition? That's my first question. And second, on the comments regarding the stable input costs overall that you mentioned on the gross margin. What does that mean? Does that mean that there is no benefit from lower agave prices into your cost base already this year? Or what do you mean by stable input costs?

So I'll take the first one, Froylan. Thank you for your question. I think it's a very relevant one. So what I want to be very clear is since this transition was planned with significant time before we announced, we made sure that we built inventory in the new distributors to avoid any supply disruption. So we are having absolutely none supply disruption in our customers from the transition because of the way it was managed in making sure that we have enough inventory and new distributors before executing the transition. That's one. The other one, just to provide very strong confidence on your concern actually not manifesting in the marketplace, we see actually the opposite, because if I take a market like Florida, where RNDC had around 20% share of the market, breakthrough has over 40% of the market. So actually, we're -- what my expectation is that our coverage in the trade will significantly increase the presence of our portfolio in retail and the on-premise versus our previous distributors. So one of the reasons that was driving the decisions we made in which distributors to choose in every market were distributors that actually have a stronger presence than our legacy partners. So actually, I see the opposite. I see this as an opportunity versus a risk because since we are not having any supply chain issues, we're not having any out of stocks, we're not having disruption in the supply, we are going to see over the next few months an increase in our coverage and distribution versus historical levels. So that's why the way we've been positioned is, even though there's short-term disruption, I see an upside for our business as we stabilize the transition.

Very clear. And on the input cost.

Yes. How are you, Froylan? The comment I made on -- in regards to stable input cost basically relates to the fact that we see market prices on agave being stable, and we have no expectations of significant changes to the current situation or the situation we've had in the last couple of quarters. That's basically the comment. There's nothing more to that.

So the benefit of lower agave prices basically was already seen or already impacting results last year. So now if they are stable versus 2025, you don't see an incremental impact, but you did benefit last year from that and not so much this year since they are, let's say, sequentially stable. Is that the right way to think about it?

The right way to think about it is we have continued to benefit from lower agave spot prices in the proportion we do leverage that part of the market, and we expect no changes going forward.

Our next question comes from the line of Henrique Morello. Please state your company name and ask your question.

This is Henrique Morello from Morgan Stanley, filling up for Ricardo Alves today. We have 2 quick ones on the margin side here. So the first one on the gross margin. We understand that most of the impact was from the FX, right? And by the way, thank you for the breakdown that in the release is very helpful. But on the other side that we understand that that's the underlying performance, right, the minus 170 basis points of underlying decline in the gross margin. So you -- if you could just give a little bit more detail on the main drivers behind of that underlying decline? For instance, how much was lower prices or maybe operational leverage, something like that? And how should we think about that ex FX performance of gross margins for the rest of the year as well would be very helpful? And the second question on the SG&A front. So given the current tougher industry environment in the U.S., industry-wide decline in sales, so picking of your [ brands ], if you expect any eventual SG&A downsizing, perhaps efficiencies in production capacity optimization, adjustments to logistics or headcount or something like that? Or if you see any other low-hanging fruits on the SG&A side that could help boost your margins going forward in the coming quarters as well? So those are the questions.

Of course, thank you for both questions. Regarding the gross margin, out of the 500 basis points, and this was commented already, 330 basis points was driven by simply FX, unfavorable FX. The rest, the other 170 points (sic) [ basis points ], it's actually a result of unfavorable price mix and importantly, geographical mix as the U.S. performance underweights the -- what normally it does, right? So there's not much more to comment in that regard. It's a matter of unfavorable mix is what explains the rest. Regarding your second question, we continue -- on a continuous basis, we look for opportunities to improve cost reduction and efficiencies, and we will continue to do that. Obviously, our numbers are affected right now due to operating deleverage that impacts all P&L line items, which have implicitly fixed expenses and costs. So yes, I mean, we continue to focus on driving productivity across the value chain. We have been doing that, and we will continue to do that as part of our ongoing strategy.

Thank you. That is all the time we have for questions. So that concludes the call. Thank you. You may now disconnect.