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

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining Beclet's fourth 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 the use of terms and phrases such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, predict, project, will, goals, targets, strategy, and similar terms and phrases. It may include references to assumptions. Forward-looking statements are based on the 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. With all the foregoing reasons, you are cautioned against relying on such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligations to publicly disclose or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. So without further ado, I would like to pass the line to Mr. Fernando Suarez, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Fernando, the floor is yours. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss the unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31st, 2021, of Bekle, commercially known as Jose Cuervo. We are joined today by Juan Domingo Beckman, Chief Executive Officer, and the rest of the senior management team. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that these 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 in the fourth 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, we would like to remind participants that your lines will be in listen-only mode until the question-and-answer session. Now, we will pass on the call to Beckless CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckman.

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today to discuss Beckless' fourth quarter and full-year 2021 results. I will make some opening comments, and then I will ask Luis Felix to discuss the performance of our U.S. and Canada business. Olga Limon will review our Mexico and Latin results, and Gordon Tron will discuss our results in the EMEA and APAC regions. Fernando Suarez will then walk you through our financial results. We are very pleased with overall results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2021, in spite of the recent COVID resurface with the Omicron variant, affecting the global recovery. For the quarter, Mekle delivered a very solid 5.5 year-on-year growth in volume and 22.4 increase in net sales value, mainly driven by strong performance of premium brands throughout the regions, led by our Tequila portfolio. 2021 was a challenging year in many ways, given supply chain constraints, lockdowns affecting on-premise sales, and a tough 2020 comparison base for off-premise. Despite that, for the full year 2021, Beckler delivered a very solid 8.8% volume growth and 12% increase in net sales value. And gross profit and operating income growth was 16.6% and 3.3% respectively. We're very pleased with this performance despite the challenges. In the U.S. and Canada region, volume was up 10.5% versus the fourth quarter of 2020. The product mix favored premium tequila brands, and compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, net sales value of the tequila portfolio was up 39.5%. We faced important supply chain issues in the region, but our team did a great job limiting its effects and catching up with production by year-end. We remain confident about underlying demand, as depletions are holding up versus the strong 2020 numbers. EMEA and APEC's solid results this quarter were driven by good on trade sales and tequila performance. Quarterly volume was up in both regions by 29, and 53.7%, respectively. EMEA and APAC had high depletions, and despite the APAC region still being under heavy lockdowns, it still posted impressive numbers even when comparing versus 2019 base. In Mexico, despite volume being down by 10%, by prioritizing premium brand sales and increasing pricing the last quarter. Net sales value grew by 7.5%. Even though LATAM still faced COVID-19 restrictions and supply constraints, volume and net sales value increased double digits in the quarter and in the full year. Our performance continues to outpace the broader spirits industry, reflecting our attractive portfolio of brands and favorable positioning in key growth categories. We are confident we can continue to deliver premiumization within our portfolio. Looking into 2022, we will be seeking to mitigate the cost pressures for the global supply chain situation by way of increasing price across our markets and our portfolio. I will now turn the call over to Luis Felix to discuss our US and Canada results.