This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.
spk02: Welcome to the Dole PLC first quarter 2024 earnings conference call and webcast. Today's conference is being broadcast live over the internet and is also being recorded for playback purposes. Currently, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to the Head of Investor Relations with Dole PLC, James O. Regan.
spk04: Thank you, Pam. Welcome, everybody, and thank you for taking the time to join our first quarter 2024 earnings conference call and webcast. Joining me on the call today is our Chief Executive Officer, Rory Byrne, our Chief Operating Officer, Johan Linden, and our Chief Financial Officer, Jacinta Devine. During this call, we will be referring to presentation slides to supplement our remarks, and these, along with our earnings release and other related materials, are available on the investor relations section of the Dole PLC website. Please note our remarks today will include certain forward-looking statements within the provisions of the Federal Security State Harbor Law. These reflect circumstances of the time they are made, and the company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied due to a wide range of factors, including those set forth in our SEC filings and press releases. Information regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures may be found in our press release, which also includes a reconciliation of the most comparable GAAP measures. With that, I'm pleased to turn today's call over to Rory.
spk03: Thank you, James. Welcome, everybody, and thank you for joining us today as we discuss our results for the first quarter of 2024. So turning first into slide four and the financial highlights for Q1. Well, following the strong results in 2023, we're very pleased to report another good performance in the first quarter of 2024. Group revenue increased by 6.6% to $2.1 billion, and adjusted EBITDA increased 9.7% to $110 million. On a like-for-like basis, adjusted EBITDA increased 10.8%, including the impact of foreign exchange and M&A. The growth in adjusted EBITDA was driven by a strong performance in our diversified fresh produce America segment, continued growth in our diversified fresh produce EMEA segment, and a stable, consistent performance in our fresh fruit segment. Adjusted net income increased $8.3 million to $40.6 million, and adjusted diluted EPS increased 26% to $0.43 per share. Efficient management and allocation of our capital is a key strategic priority for the group. In this regard, we were pleased to complete the opportunistic sale of our 65% interest in progressive projects in March, realizing after-tax net proceeds of approximately $100 million. The proceeds from this sale have been used to repay debt, and at the end of the quarter, our net leverage stood at two times. During the quarter, we were disappointed to have to announce the termination of the agreement to sell our fresh vegetable division to Fresh Express. The decision to terminate was due to the DOJ's decision to pursue litigation if we had moved to close the transaction. We strongly disagree with this decision and continue to believe that the transaction was pro-competitive and would have unlocked ongoing benefits to customers and consumers. In any event, we are moving onwards and we are actively exploring alternatives that are in the best interests of all the division stakeholders, employees, customers, partners, and indeed the DOE PLC shareholders. Turning now to slide six for our operational highlights and starting with our fresh food segment. This segment delivered another robust performance in the first quarter when adjusted EBITDA of $69.4 million in line with Q1 2023. Firstly, looking at Europe, we continue to build on an excellent turnaround year in 2023 in the first quarter of 2024, driven in particular by higher volumes in bananas and pineapples and lower sourcing and shipping costs. In North America, our operations are continuing to perform well with good customer progress and benefiting from lower food costs to offset some lower pricing, reduce commercial cargo profitability, and as anticipated, some higher shipping costs. While our shipping remains a consistent source of competitiveness and reliability for our operations, this is an area where we are anticipating higher costs in 2024, due in part to regulatory changes, but also to periodic dry docking related costs. Looking ahead on the market side, we continue to see a competitive environment in both North America and Europe for the remainder of the year. However, we believe we are managing this well and have been able to win some new business due to our own competitiveness, as well as our continued efforts to expand our offering with additional products and varieties. On the sourcing side, we continue to face challenges such as currency appreciation in some key sourcing regions and lower yields due to weather-related impacts. And while forecasting is complex, we continue to focus on managing these challenges to maintain our competitiveness. As ever, our strong and experienced management team in this division are keenly focused on risk management and driving operation efficiencies, and together with our diverse sourcing infrastructure and customer base, we are confident in delivering another strong and consistent performance in 2024. Moving on to the diversified EMEA segment, Our diversified EMEA segment has continued its momentum from the end of 2023 into the start of 2024, delivering a strong first quarter result. Revenue growth remained strong, and while this was mostly driven by higher pricing, we did see an improved balance on the volume side, with growth being seen in several markets. Adjusted EBITDA growth in the quarter was driven by higher revenue, margin expansion, and good contributions across most regions, in particular Northern Europe and South Africa. On the margin side, we saw the benefit of the continued investments we were making coming through to drive growth. As ever, the diversified EMEA segment will continue to be attentive to opportunities to drive synergies, opportunities to invest internally, and opportunities through bolt-on acquisitions that will further drive our expansion across the European marketplace. Overall, we are targeting good performance for this segment of 2024 as we continue to leverage our strong market positions, operational integration and investment opportunities. Our diversified America segment delivered an excellent first quarter result driven by positive underlying performance and by the benefit of some seasonal variations pushing more volume into the quarter than in prior years. As noted on our last call, the El Niño weather patterns have notable impacts on both the timing and volumes of products being exported out of South America in the fourth quarter of 2023 and indeed in the first quarter of 2024. This was apparent in particular for our Chilean cherry business, which saw much higher volumes in the first quarter of 2024 than in the prior year. While this was also an important factor in blueberries, grapes, which saw variations in volumes as well as different windows for marketing the fruit from different sources. Excluding some of the seasonal timing factors, the quarter was also very positive on an underlying basis, with healthy volume growth and strong prices across most of our North American business, particularly in avocados. While on the South American export side, we benefited from a good Chilean cherry season and continued to supply supply chain improvements across all commodities. As we look further into 2024, we are targeting a strong performance from our South American export businesses, as well as healthy dynamics across most of our North American operations. The remaining challenge is to accelerate the turnaround in the berry category to maximise performance in this sub-segment for the full year. Moving on to our fresh vegetables division. Rory McGreal, R&D, Operational we're very pleased that the performance of a veg vegetables business has improved substantially in the first quarter, due in no small part to the continued dedication of the businesses management and employees. Rory McGreal, R&D, The positive operating result was driven by an improved performance in value added products, as well as higher pricing and volumes in fresh packed products and with that i'll hand you over to Jacinta to give the financial review for the first quarter.
spk01: Jacinta Parsons, R&D, Thank you Rory and good day everyone. Firstly, turning to the group results on slide eight, we are pleased to have delivered another strong performance in the first quarter of this financial year. Revenue increased 6.6% or 132 million to 2.1 billion, with growth across all segments. Revenue benefited from a positive foreign currency impact and from acquisitions in EMEA, which offset the reduction in America's revenue following the progressive produce disposal. Stripping these factors out, revenue increased 6.7% on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted EBITDA increased approximately 10 million, driven by strong performance in the two diversified fresh produce segments. On a like-for-like basis, the increase was 11 million or 10.8%. Net income for the first quarter was 65.4 million, an increase from 20.5 million in Q1 23. The increase in net income was driven by higher adjusted EBITDA, a 74 million gain on the sale of progressive produce and lower interest expense as our total debt reduced. Partially offsetting this was a non-cash goodwill write-down within the Americas and rest of world segment. After accounting for the disposal of progressive produce, we reviewed the remaining goodwill within the segment and booked a non-cash goodwill write-down of 36.7 million. However, we expect this segment to continue to grow as the benefits of a strong asset base are realized. Income tax increased due to higher operating profits, the gain on the sale of progressive produce, and the jurisdictional profit mix. Diluted EPS was 74 cents compared to 15 cents in the prior year. On an adjusted basis, predominantly excluding the gain on the sale of progressive produce and the goodwill write-down, adjusted net income increased 26% to 40.6 million, and adjusted diluted EPS increased 26% to 43 cents. The increase was driven by higher adjusted EBITDA and lower depreciation and interest expense, partially offset by a higher tax expense. As Rory mentioned, the fresh vegetables business had a good quarter and delivered operating income of 16.6 million, This was offset by a non-cash reduction in a tax asset as a consequence of the termination of the Fresh Express transaction. Now, turning to the divisional updates for our continuing operations, starting with fresh fruit on slide 10. The fresh fruit division delivered a strong, consistent result with revenue increasing 3.2% and adjusted EBITDA up 0.3%. The increase in revenue was primarily due to higher worldwide volumes of bananas and pineapples, and an increase in worldwide pineapple pricing, partially offsetting this with lower worldwide banana prices. The marginal increase in adjusted EBITDA was driven by higher volumes and lower fruit sourcing costs. Now turning to diversified fresh produce EMEA on slide 11. The diversified EMEA segment delivered another strong result in the first quarter. Revenue increased 7%, primarily due to a strong performance in Ireland and the UK, as well as favourable FX movement of approximately 13 million and a 6 million contribution from acquisitions. Excluding these impacts, on a like-for-like basis, revenue increased 4.6%. Adjusted EBITDA increased 10.9%, primarily driven by strong performance in Northern Europe and South Africa, as well as by a positive impact of 0.3 million from foreign currency translation. Like-for-like, the increase was 10%. Finally, diversified fresh produce, Americas and rest of the world. The diversified Americas segment had a strong quarter, benefiting from seasonal timing difference and also improved pricing and volumes across a range of products. Revenue increased 54 million, driven by higher cherry volumes due to seasonal timing differences, as well as higher pricing and volumes of avocados and most other commodities. Revenue was impacted by the sale of progressive produce during March, and so on a like-for-like basis, revenue increased to 73 million. The increases in revenue drove the strong adjusted EBITDA result, stripping out the impact of the progressive produce contribution following its disposal. On a like-for-like basis, adjusted EBITDA increased over 100%, or 8 million. Turning to slide 13 now to discuss our cash generation, capital allocation, and leverage. We remain very focused on capital allocation and managing our leverage, and are pleased that our leverage reduced further in the quarter to two times. The reduction was driven by the receipt of proceeds from the progressive produce disposal and higher adjusted EBITDA, which balanced out a seasonal first quarter working capital outflow. As discussed in our full year earnings call, we benefited from favourable seasonality at the year end and had an expected working capital outflow in Q1. which was higher than Q1 2023. Also, the quarter close was impacted by higher receivables due to higher revenue and the timing of collections around the Easter period. This was partially offset by the impact of higher payables. Our expectation is that this will reverse over the course of the year following the typical working capital cycle seen in our business. Cash capital expenditure from continuing operations was 18.2 million in the first quarter, and we added a further 7 million of assets by way of finance lease. For the full year, we continue to expect total capital expenditure in the range of 110 to 120 million. Interest expense decreased due to lower debt levels compared to the prior year. Post quarter end, we repaid 100 million of our term loans using the proceeds from the progressive produce sale. For the full year, we now expect our interest expense, including discontinued operation, to be 75 to 80 million. Continuing with our commitment to return cash to shareholders, we are pleased to declare a dividend of 8 cents for the fourth quarter, which will be paid on July 5th, 24, to shareholders on record on June 12th, 24. Now, I will hand you back to Rory, who will give an update on our full year outlook.
spk03: Thank you, Cynthia. Well, as I said, we're very pleased with the strong start we've made to 2024, and we believe that this puts us in a good position to deliver a strong overall result for the year. While it's still early in the year and forecasting remains complex, we are maintaining our target to deliver a full year adjusted EBITDA in line with 2023 on a like-for-like basis. In dollar terms, adjusting for the progressive project disposal, this implies an adjusted EBITDA target of at least $360 million for the full year. In conclusion, we're very pleased with the excellent start we've had to 2024 and are now keenly focused on continuing that momentum in the second quarter, while also advancing on our strategic priorities in the year ahead. I want to finish by once again thanking all our excellent people across the group for their ongoing commitment and dedication to drive DoDEAL PLC forward, as well as our suppliers, customers, for all their ongoing support. So with that, I'll hand you back to the operator and we'll open the line for questions.
spk02: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you have dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star 1 again. If you are called upon to ask a question and are listening via loudspeaker on your device, please pick up your handset and ensure that your phone is not on mute when asking your question. Again, press star 1 to join the queue. And your first question comes from the line of Adam Samuelson with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
spk09: Yes, thank you. Good morning, everyone.
spk07: Good morning.
spk09: Good morning. I guess I wanted to just clarify the guidance and the way to properly calibrate the progressive produce contribution, both in the prior year and what that implies for the forward. So you're saying EBITDA this year to 360 million, which is flat on a like for like basis, you reported adjusted EBITDA in 2023 of 385 million. So should we be interpreting that that progressive produce was 25 million of EBITDA contribution in the final three quarters or nine and a half months of 2023? which implies that was a pretty dramatic component of the overall diversified America's rest of world segment and kind of maybe some more context on the historical EBITDA performance on that business relative to the rest of the diversified America's rest of world. Maybe just to start. Thanks.
spk03: Okay, yeah, I mean, last year, our reported number for progressive produce was 23 and a half million. So we subtracted that off the 385, and that gets you down to the 360 guidance, which is 361 and a half or something like that, when you do the maths. So the guidance is 360. So, yeah, I mean, the diversified, we had called out some underperformance and other elements of that division in the prior years. We have actually had a strong first quarter in most aspects of that business in the first quarter. So the turnaround work that's been undertaken over the last year or so is in good shape and we're confident that we'll have a good performance in the remaining piece of that business over the course of 2024.
spk09: Okay. And so in the first quarter adjusted EBITDA for the company, was up 10 million year over year. Again, you still have progressive produce for most of the quarter. The prior year number has it in there. But you're saying flat year over year for the full year. So implication, I just want to make sure you're implying EBITDA declines on a like-for-like basis for the balance of the year. And I know you called out some of the shipping and dry dock costs in particular, Rory, maybe quantify those and just help us think about how we go from the growth anticipated, realized in the first quarter to the decline implied for the balance of the year.
spk03: Yeah, I mean, the whole question of guidance, as you know, Adam, is very definitely not an exact science. You know, we're trying to come up with a number that we think is a sensible number. You know, with the history now of giving guidance, we try to be think reasonably conservative in how we do that. There's a couple of big factors out there. You look at our peer group reporting in this quarter, you know, I've reported significantly challenged numbers in Q1. If you look at Crescent Mountain, North Sarah, for example, where two companies that we're often compared to. So I suppose that tells you two things. One, you need to be a little bit cautious how you look at the full year based on their assessment of similar factors. And I suppose two, it gives us some comfort that the business model that we've got with our scale and our size and our diversification of earnings gives us a significant advantage over both of those companies. If we look back at 2023, we started out the year with a guidance of 350. We upped that during the year and we ended up exceeding that and coming in with 385. So we have clearly stated that we overperformed in 2023. Some of the issues that we flagged in 2023, for example, We took strong advantage of the backhaul freight market, for example, that gave us a significant contribution. And we had flags that, you know, it was right for us to take advantage of that because the market was high, but it's not something that is sustainable. And we called that out. So there's a few factors that I bet you plagued the question around the dry docking of some of the ships and the replacement capacity we've got and the cost of doing that will have an impact on our numbers. So, you know, it's The main message here really is it's not an exact science. We've set the line in the sand as best we can, and as ever, we'll focus on beating the target over the remainder of the year.
spk09: Okay. And if I could just squeeze one final one in. With the proceeds from Progressive Produce, on an adjusted basis or pro forma basis, trailing net leverage is 2.1 times. You've used the proceeds for deleveraging and gross debt reduction at this juncture, but how do we think about capital allocation prospectively, given where your stock is? I would think the risk-adjusted returns look better on share repurchase than potential default on M&A. I know we still have the fresh vegetable sale to finalize, but help us think about how you would think about prospective use of cash from here, given where the stock is? Thank you.
spk03: Yeah, I mean, obviously, the stock rating is somewhat disappointing. You know, we applied the multiple, the gross value, the progressive deal to our overall gold business. We'd have something like a $21 share price. So that's obviously frustrating. And besides your point, but, you know, All capital allocation questions are continually being examined, whether that's buybacks, dividends, acquisitions. It's quite clear that in the short term, certainly with the current rating we've got, that any significant acquisitions, it's going to be hard to buy them at our current rating. And so we have to focus on acquisitions that will enhance the sum of the parts in some way. We have got this big strategic question about what the final outcome will be with regard to the vegetable division and that obviously is a big factor in determining where we allocate our capital. It can be a material element of our absolute debt number, for example, so all of those questions go into the ongoing analysis of where we might allocate our capital, and we've got a very open mind as to how we do that in the best interest, in the best long-term interest of all of our shareholders. Okay.
spk09: I appreciate that call. I'll pass it on. Thank you.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Christopher Barnes with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
spk03: I wonder, is Chris on mute?
spk02: Next question comes from the line of Christopher Barnes with Deutsche Bank.
spk06: Hey, can you guys hear me now? We can hear you now, yeah. Okay, thanks. I just wanted to follow up around the EBITDA discussion. With progressive produce coming out, and Rory mentioned about $23.5 million of EBITDA last year, I just wanted to ask around opportunities to recover some of that divested profit. In the past, you've spoken to potential savings from right-sizing overheads and head office allocations, but any additional perspective would be helpful just as we think about the The continuing business going forward and opportunities to claw back some of that profitability.
spk03: Yeah, I think that I think the biggest area that we would hope to pull it back is that in the remaining components of that division, you know, we're really focused on getting the profitability levels at the right levels. I think, depending on where we end up at the badge division, that can dictate where we go to in terms of our overall head office costs and other cost structures. A little bit difficult to scale it down just with the disposal of progressive produce, but it may be a little different if we can find the right appropriate answer for the badge business. is a constant area that's under examination whether it's at the operational level in the business or at the central cost level in the business and I think you know critically over the last number of years with the you know post IPO the integration of the North American and South American management team under one management grouping and really focusing on maximizing the profitability in that business and I think as well, it's a business that suffered badly post-pandemic with the supply chain issues. We highlighted those in prior years, supply chain disruption. So a lot of those issues have really settled down and it's giving that business a much better platform to manage how their profitability runs. So that'll be the big focus over the course of 2024.
spk06: Got it. That's helpful. And then I guess just switching gears on the fresh fruit business, very nice results this quarter. Could you just elaborate on what's driving the better top line and profitability? Last quarter, you highlighted increased competition in North America weighing on pricing, which seems to have transpired. But it looks like you also got better volumes globally and lower sourcing costs or help offset the lower pricing. So Kristoffers, I guess, could you just help us frame like what what is supply and demand conditions look like at this point in the year and then like looking forward, do you expect this relative outperformance or relative strength to continue and i'll pass it on thanks.
spk03: Johan von Weitkamp- Maybe you might cover that one please.
spk00: Johan von Weitkamp- yeah so Christopher so and there are, as always, when it comes to our business, a lot of moving parts, but overall when we look at our. Jone Peter Reistadler, Fresh fruit segment and then particular bananas, but also pineapples we see a demand is being solid, so there is a. Jone Peter Reistadler, The consumers out there want our products, people are looking for cheaper alternatives and, of course, bananas is one of them, so the demand is solid. Jone Peter Reistadler, At the same time, we see retailers putting pressure on margins they're really going after trying to fight inflation and. showed themselves in the good books of the politicians. It's a lot of pressure on margins, but at the same time, supply is tight. The supply is tight on the back of, if you remember, we have talked about poor farm maintenance as a consequence of high input cost in Ecuador. We see also in Costa Rica that the colon is very expensive, so some of the farmers are having not the right maintenance, so the supply is coming down. So you have good demand, retailers putting pressure, you have supplies being tight. At the same time, you have some cost giving on the input cost when it comes, for example, as paper. So if you put everything together, we feel that with the supply diversification we have, the geographic diversification that we have in the customer diversification, we feel that we are able to handle this very volatile situation very well. So we're looking at more or less similar as last year. But of course, then a little bit of it, a drawback and a downside when it comes to our commercial cargo, the shipping business that we have.
spk06: Got it. Thanks. That's helpful perspective. I'll pass it on.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Gary Martin with Davey. Please go ahead.
spk05: Hi, Rory, Cynthia and Johan. Just first off, congrats on a very strong quarter. Just a few questions on my side, just starting off with a diversified EMEA. I mean, I think just in terms of preferred remarks, you'd mentioned a bit of recovery with regards to volume growth in the quarter. I mean, could we get a bit more just detail on where you're seeing that and whether these green shoots are expected to continue into the back half of the year? And then secondly, just on diversified Americas, I can just give us a bit of detail just regards to what you're seeing, regards to the kind of berry market in North America, just because I know it's been on the weaker side. And also just kind of congruently, just regards to how much the kind of seasonal cherry inflow, how much of that is expected to kind of continue into the rest of the year? Is this quarter's exceptional result, is it more kind of one-off in timing related to
spk03: I think it's fair to say that across all of our geographies within that division we've had very solid performance. Scandinavia, you know, we're doing a lot of, you know, bolt-on additions to some of our operating businesses and that they had a particularly good performance. South Africa, which falls within that division as well, have performed very well. So I think, you know, that's been a business that's over a long period of time, long period of years, there's, you know, a few ups and downs within individual segments within it, but overall it's performed and continued to grow very successfully over a long period of time now. I think there's a bit more work to be done on that whole berry segment and our particular involvement in that. We're doing a lot of work to fix that, but there's more to be done to get that right and that is a big project for 2024. I think in terms of the cherry season, it probably is. We probably did have an exceptionally strong Q1, without a doubt. Some of the volume that may have historically fallen into Q4 of 23 came into Q1. So that highlight, it just does give us a slightly better Q1 performance, even though the season for cherries overlapping significantly. 2023 and Q1 2024 and you know satisfactory season and line with the prior year so it's just timing on that we flagged that I think at the end of the year as well and so you will see it is definitely a slightly better than normal Q1 and that will balance out over the course of the year but again we're comfortable within the other elements of that business that we're going to have a satisfactory outcome and diversify the markets for the coming year.
spk07: Thanks, Lori.
spk08: Good call. I'll pass it on.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Ben Bienvenu with Stephens. Please go ahead.
spk08: Hey, thanks. Good morning, everyone. So firstly, just a quick question on the balance sheet. With the sale of Progressive Produce and the subsequent paydown of debt in April, are you satisfied with the debt positioning of the balance sheet today? And should we think about kind of removing that as a bucket of capital allocation in terms of any excess cash flow that you have is less likely to go to debt reduction and more likely to go to either organic growth or inorganic growth investments or perhaps share repurchase?
spk03: Yeah, I mean obviously we're comfortable at a two times leverage and you know, as I said, we put all of the factors into the mix, not least the eventual outcome in relation to the vegetable emissions, which is a significant potential impact on our financing capacity. And you know, we assess it as we go along based on how all of those dynamic factors evolve. OK.
spk08: Thinking about the overall margin profile of the business, it seems that we're past the worst of inflationary cost pressures that we've seen over the last several of years impacting you and others in the industry and really all industries. When you think about your price and volume balance versus kind of the embedded cost variability you have in your business, Are we on a path to continued EBITDA margin expansion in 2024? And do you think that can sustain into 2025? Just any thoughts on the potential of the margin profile of the business as you see it today?
spk03: Yeah, I mean, if you look back at inflation while certainly managing an inflationary times is much more complex and more stable times. having a big impact on our business is probably a little bit of an exaggeration. I think we've done remarkably well over the long period of inflation in the last few years, and we've managed, whether it's through our dynamic pricing models and our two diversified divisions, or getting the appropriate price adjustments in our fresh food business to adjust for the inflationary and the justifiable inflationary impacts on our cost chain items. I think we've managed well through that segment. We've held our margins pretty constant over that period of time. Our objective is always to try and improve on the edges within different sub-segments. Diversified Americas is one example where we had some supply chain issues that had a negative impact on our overall margin. We would like to see margin improvement, particularly in that division, and that is starting to come through now.
spk08: Thanks so much for taking the questions. Thank you, Ben.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Christian Junquera with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
spk07: Hey, everyone. You have Christian on for Brian. Thanks for taking our question. We understand that you don't disclose year-over-year change in shipments and price mix on a consolidated basis. Can you give us some color on how shipments performed relative to price mix this quarter and your expectations for this fiscal year? Thank you.
spk03: Yeah, I mean, we believe in our fresh fruit division, we've done well in terms of volumes. You know, price has been under a little bit of pressure for a range of reasons. And, you know, we've compensated that through good customer progress and volumes. I mean, maybe even going back to Ben's question, but in terms of the price volume equation, there have been some challenges for people. The economies of individual families are affected by inflation and lots of basic items going up in price and demand is maybe a little bit subdued. So we're hoping as the current levels stabilize, become more normalized, that over time that can help And we're seeing some green shoots in that front in terms of, you know, volume gains both in Europe and North America.
spk07: Very helpful. Thank you. Thank you, Christian.
spk02: There are no more questions. I will now turn the conference back over to Rory Byrne for closing remarks.
spk03: Thank you. Well, as I said, I think we're very pleased with how the year started. A very good, strong start to 2024, following on from what I believe was a very, very strong 2023. now demonstrated a very good strong sequence of quarterly performance and done a lot of work on our capital structure and getting the right balance between debt and equity equity and i think with all of those measures um you know lots of work still to be done we believe we're very well positioned to continue to grow and and look forward to the future of confidence so huge thank you to all our very committed people for helping achieve that and uh thank you to all of you for joining us today thank you very much
spk02: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.
spk03: And thank you to all of you for joining us today.
Disclaimer