Del Monte Corporation

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Fresh Del Monte Produce's fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2024 earnings conference call. Today's conference call is being broadcast live over the internet and is also being recorded for playback purposes. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn today's call over to the Vice President, Investor Relations with Fresh Del Monte Produce, Ms. Christine Cannella. Please go ahead, Ms. Cannella.

Thank you, Luella. Good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining our fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2024 conference call. Joining me in today's discussion are Mr. Muhammad Abugazali, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Ms. Monica Vicente, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I hope that you had a chance to review the press release that was issued earlier via Business Wire. You may also visit the company's IR website at InvestorRelations.FreshDalmonte.com to access today's earnings materials and to register for future distributions. This conference call is being webcast live on our website and will be available for replay after this call. Please note that our press release and our call today include non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures are set forth in the press release and earnings presentation, which is available on our website. I would like to remind you that much of the information we will be speaking to today, including the answers we give in response to your questions, may include forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws. In today's press release and in our SEC filings, we detail risks that may cause our future results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Our statements are as of today, February 24th, 2024, and we have no obligation to update any forward looking statement we may make. During the call, we will provide a business update along with an overview of our fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2024 financial results, followed by a question and answer session. With that, I will now turn today's call over to Mr. Mohamed Abou Ghazali. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Christine. Good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining us today. Let me take you through the highlights of our full year 2024 results. Our fresh and value-added product segments, pineapple, fresh cut fruit, and avocados, performed exceptionally well in 2024, driving growth and improving company gross margins. These categories remain core strengths of our portfolio, which we believe validates the direction we have taken to focus on higher margin products that align with market demands. While total net sales were 1% lower year over year at $4,280,000,000, gross profit increased by 2% to $358 million from the prior year period. And gross margins improved to 8.4% compared with 8.1% in 2023, underscoring our progress in building a more profitable and efficient business model. Furthermore, we achieved another reduction in long-term debt supported by strong cash flow and increased our quarterly dividend for the third consecutive year. Pineapples are the heart of who we are, and in 2024, we continue to solidify our position as the global leader in this category. Last year, we launched our latest innovation, the Ruby Glow Pineapple. As global demand for our pineapples continue to exceed supply, We remain active in expanding our production and sourcing operations. We understand how important it is to ensure consistent and interrupted supply to consumers globally. And for that, we have established a five-year growth strategy that we believe will support our customers globally. We believe in the next few years will be a tremendous sorry for our pineapple segment, driven by our relentless focus on quality innovation and reaching more consumers around the world. Pineapples are central to our growth strategy, driving every stage of our business, from whole fresh produce to fresh cut and value-added products, manufacturing with IQF and juice concentrates. And our newest biomass initiative, which seeks to monetize every part of the fruit and plant. We are also leveraging improvements across our fresh-cut facilities worldwide. In North America, the program is expanding particularly in club, retail, and e-commerce channels, where we have partnered with one of the world's largest platforms. In the fourth quarter, we introduce more automation into our fresh cut facilities and other innovations that have enhanced efficiency and operational effectiveness. These investments align with our strategy to build our fresh cut program into a key profit center, which we expect will enable us to deliver sustained growth in this category. Our avocado program, another core strength, performed well in 2024, driving growth despite industry supply chain challenges. Expanding global sourcing remains a key focus of our growth strategy. While our state-of-the-art packing operations in Mexico is our largest strength, we are evaluating plans to diversify our sourcing through partnerships in Colombia, Guatemala, Uganda, and Kenya. We believe that we will be able to sustain the momentum, expand our reach, and deliver greater value to customers and consumers worldwide. Our banana business remains an important focus, even as the market has become increasingly competitive over the past few years. To meet customer demand and ensure a stable supply, we have taken steps to diversify sourcing and expand supply. A key initiative is our Somalia Banana Project, which was announced in February 23, located in the heart of Somalia's historic banana belt. This project is revitalizing an industry that once thrived before the civil war of the 1990s, when Somalia was the leading banana exporter to Europe and the Middle East. In quarter four, 2024, 350 hectares were planted with plans to expand to 1,500 hectares by the end of 2025. We expect that this project will not only strengthen our supply chain and reduce transport times to key markets, but will also position us to penetrate new banana markets. Additionally, we believe that this project plays a vital role in Somalia's economic recovery by creating jobs, stimulating the local economy, and establishing critical infrastructure. On the regulatory front, we believe we are ahead of the curve when it comes to FESMA 204 compliance, positioning Fresh Del Monte as a leader in supply chain traceability. This rule, which requires enhanced for high-risk food is one we have embraced early, and we are well into the implementation and integration phase with several key suppliers. We are on track to achieve full compliance in time for the January 2026 deadline. With a dedicated team and robust system in place, we are strengthening our risk management framework and operational efficiency. We expect to be ready to continue servicing our customers and take on new whose current suppliers are unable to meet these requirements in time, giving us a significant competitive advantage. By leading the way in FESPA 204 compliance, we are aiming to ensure continued growth, particularly in our fresh cut category and reinforcing our ability to deliver value to our cut partners. As you can see, 2024 was a remarkable year for us, further underscored by the pivotal launch of our biomass initiative. This initiative seeks to transform residues and byproducts into innovative solutions, enhancing soil health, advancing wellness, and exploring new applications in textiles. While still in its early stages, The initiative reflects our commitment to sustainability and innovation, creating value for both our business and the environment. To drive the growth of our biomass initiatives, we recently completed hiring the core team that will lead this next phase. Further underscoring our leadership in sustainability, we were recently honored with the SEAL Environment Initiative Award. our fourth SEAL Award in five years. This recognition celebrates our achievement in surpassing our emissions reduction targets an impressive seven years ahead of schedule. The SEAL Business Sustainability Awards honor the most sustainable companies in the world. And this latest win reaffirms our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and responsible business practices. Finally, I want to express my gratitude to our team members worldwide. Their dedication and hard work made 2024 a transformative year for Fresh Del Monte. The progress we have achieved is a testament to their efforts. I would like to thank you at this time and move the call to Monica Vicente, our Chief Financial Officer, who will get into the financial results.