Becle, S.A.B. de C.V.

Good morning, and thank you for joining Beckley's second 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, may, plan, predict, project, will, goals, target, strategy, 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 the 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. For all the foregoing reasons, you are cautioned against relying on such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Now I'll welcome Fernando Suarez, Chief Financial Officer. Fernando, you are now on the line.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss the unaudited financial results for the second quarter and the June 30th, 2021 of BECLE, commercially known as Jose Cuervo. I am joined today by Juan Domingo Beckman, Chief Executive Officer, Michael Keyes, President and CEO of Proximo Spirits, Victor Chavez, VP of Commercial Strategy for Proximo, Luis Felix, Managing Director of Mexico and Latam, and Gordon Drone, Managing Director of EMEA and APAC. Before we begin, I 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 on the Mexican Stock Exchange. This information for the second quarter of 2021 is preliminary and is provided with the understanding that Once financial statements are available, updated information will be shared in the appropriate electronic formats. At this time, I would like to remind participants that your lines will be in listen-only mode until the question and answers session. Now, I will pass the call on to Beckley's CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckman. Juan Domingo Beckman Good morning.

Thank you for joining us today to discuss PECLA's second quarter 2021 results. I hope you and your families are all keeping safe and well and starting to enjoy some more freedom in many youth regions. As you know, we had a very strong 2020, adapting well to the pandemic conditions and benefiting from our long-term investment in our diversified set of grants. In the second quarter of 2021, our tequila and other spirits portfolios continue to perform well across our different regions. However, as we move on from the pandemic, we are seeing growth normalizing to levels closer to the ones seen in 2019, as comparisons become tougher due to the unprecedented growth seen in the second quarter of 2020. This resulted in net sales increasing by 9.7% in the quarter, and 20.2 in the first half of 2021 compared to the same periods in 2020, driven by volume growth and higher premium brand mix. Volumes for the second quarter of the year were up 2.7% and by 17% for the first half compared to the same periods in 2020, reflecting the resilience of our brands. This more moderate growth compared to the second quarter of 2020 is due to a normalization in the off-premise channel sales and consumption as the on-premise channel reopened. Considering everything I've just mentioned, Beckley was still able to deliver gross profit year-on-year increase of 9.8% and 10 basis points increase in gross margin. As you have also seen in our earnings release, Our AMP spend was soft during the quarter as we made strong strategic investments in our brands, taking advantage of opportunities that presented themselves during the quarter as some of our rivals pulled back. This included forming long-term strategic partnerships. We believe these investments will bring long-term benefits to the company even if they impacted the margin in the quarter. Some of these AMP costs in the second quarter of 2021 are non-recurring, as Fernando will explain further. With the reopening of the on-premise, we expect to see our on-trade sales continue to increase to offset the reduction in the off-trade consumption. We believe that the strength of our portfolio and the growth of our premium brands across the globe will enable us to keep generating value for our shareholders. On the management front, I would like to mention that Mike Keyes has decided to retire from Proximo. He will be with us until the end of the year, after which he looks forward to spending more time with his family back in Kentucky. We wish Mike all the best in his new endeavors. And on behalf of the Board of Directors, as well as Beckles and Proximo employees, thank him for his service at Proximo. clearly contributing to build a stronger organization. Luis Felix will be taking over as Proximo CEO in an orderly and seamless transition. We wish Luis success in his new role at Proximo and are confident he will also contribute to build the organization further. Mrs. Olga Limon will be returning to the company and will be taking over Luis Felix's responsibilities in the Mexico and Latin region. Now, let me turn the call over to Mike Keyes to discuss our U.S. and Canada results.