Sigma Foods SAB

second quarter 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session with instructions given at that time. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Hernan Lozano, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr. Lozano, you may begin.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Alpha's second quarter earnings webinar. We hope this Zoom broadcast will be more convenient than our previous dial-in and webcast alternatives. As always, we very much appreciate your feedback. Further details about our financial results can be found in our press release, which was distributed yesterday afternoon together with a summarized presentation. Both are available on our website in the investor relations section. Let me remind you that during this call, we will share forward-looking information and statements, which are based on variables and assumptions that are uncertain at this time. It is my pleasure to participate in today's webinar together with Eduardo Escalante, Alpha's CFO, Roberto Olivares, Sigma's CFO, and representatives from each Alpha company. Before moving on to our discussion and results, Let me make a brief comment about the accounting treatment of Excel. In accordance with IFRS, Alpha began accounting for this subsidiary as a discontinued operation in the second quarter of 2022. This treatment was applicable through May 29, 2023, which is the day that Controladora Excel shares were distributed and started trading on the Mexican Bolsa. Detailed information related to this can be found in our earnings release. Unless otherwise specified, all consolidated figures referenced in this call exclude Axtello. I will now turn the webinar over to Eduardo.

Thank you Hernan and good afternoon everyone. We greatly appreciate your participation today. An important step forward for Alpha during the second quarter was the successful spin-off of Controlador Axtel, further simplifying our corporate structure. Shareholders now have the option to hold individual stakes in NIMAC, Axtel, and Alpha. Our portfolio has been streamlined down to Alpec and Sigma, two large geographically diverse companies with leadership positions in their respective industries. In addition, these two businesses have gradually gained autonomy from alpha-related services as we continue trimming our corporate expenses. We have come a long way in our transformational process and are fully committed to continue moving forward in a prudent and efficient manner. Three factors are key to completing our journey while ensuring financial flexibility at Alpha, Alpec, and Sigma. First, higher EBITDA generation from Sigma. It is exciting to see the company's record 2Q23 performance and optimistic outlook which reflects a significant improvement when compared with the challenges Sigma faced last year. Second, debt reduction at the alpha level. The valuable assets we hold, plus the organic cash flow that our businesses generate, support various potential leverage avenues ahead. Importantly, bank loans at alpha totaling $700 million provide flexibility in the timing and amounts of future payments. Third, the discipline in our methodical and diligent approach. This is especially important as we are keen on defining the path forward of this orderly process, I mean a fluid macroenvironment. Moving next to a discussion of Alpha's second quarter results. Our consolidated revenues were down 10% and EBITDA declined 46% year over year. However, our two subsidiaries posted substantial differences in their standalone performance. Alpec is facing both expected and unexpected headwinds, while Sigma is exceeding original estimations by a wide margin. I will now turn the call over to Roberto Olivares, Sigma's CFO, to let him discuss the company's strong second quarter results and progress on strategic initiatives. Please, Roberto.