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

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Beckler's first 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, 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 businesses, 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. 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 they are the result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that the figures discussed on the call were prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, and published in the Mexican Stock Exchange. The information for the first quarter of 2024 is preliminary and is provided with understanding that once financial statements are available, updated information will be shared in the appropriate electronic format. At this time, we would like to remind you that the participant's lines will be on listen-only mode until the question-and-answer session. Now, I would like to pass the call to Beckless CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckman. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today as we discuss Beckless first quarter 2024 results. Before going into the numbers and key highlights, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Rodrigo de la Maza, our newly appointed CFO. We're excited to have him on board and wish him all the success in his new role. Starting with the original performance in the first quarter, the U.S. and Canada experience encouraging volume trends and an increase in U.S. dollar net sales compared to the first quarter of 2023. This growth was primarily driven by the successful execution of our premiumization and pricing strategies alongside the recovery of our RTD category. On the other hand, the rest of the world region faces persistent pressures on consumer demand due to ongoing economic headwinds. Despite these challenges, demand for our brands remains strong and resilient. Mexico experienced a challenging first quarter due to market dynamics affecting the spirits industry. Ongoing market contraction led to reduced demand and high inventory levels at retailers. we maintain a strong market position supported by our comprehensive product mix and ongoing premiumization efforts. As the year progresses, we expect our performance to improve, particularly once the market absorbs recent prices and we face more favorable second-half comparisons. Turning to gross margins, in the first quarter, we posted a margin of 52.1%, marking 140%. 140 basis point increase from the previous year, despite a 220 basis point negative impact of a strong peso. Price increases across the regions are focused on premiumization and are in favor of geographic mix, which benefited from withdrawing markets like the U.S. to help mitigate the exchange currency impact. We are also starting to see initial benefits from the reductions reductions in input costs. Overall, we recognize the ongoing challenges presented by macroeconomic and geopolitical factors across several key markets. However, we continue to observe growth trends for the premium tequila category and remain confident in our ability to further leverage this strength and expand our market share in our regions. I now turn the call over to Luis Felix to discuss our U.S. and Canada results in further detail.

Thank you, Juan, and good morning, everyone. The United States and Canada reported a resilient first quarter of 2024, despite challenging headwinds in the region. Kindly note that the results in the following remarks were prepared on a constant currency basis. Net sales value was up 7.1% compared to the first quarter of 2023. This was mainly caused by our immunization strategy and a 7.7% increase in tequila sales. which benefited from price increase in the first quarter of 2024 versus the same period of 2023. Shipments for the first quarter rose by 5% year-over-year, driven by a 7.7% growth in our tequila category, a notable 9.6% improvement in our ready-to-drink category, which has steadily overcome recent challenges to exceed last year's performance. Depletions for the quarter fell by low single digit, primarily due to the recent pricing adjustments as well as distributors increasing their purchases in anticipation of the high net seasonal demand typically experienced in the second quarter. Whiskies and our ready-to-drinks depletions declined by 10.5% and 11% respectively, partially upset by a 3.3% increase in tequila depletions. We expect depletion rates to accelerate in the second quarter once distributors and retailers have fully implemented and absorbed the first quarter price increase. Based on the 13-week Nielsen value indicators for the period ended March 23rd, the aggregated spirits industry grew by 3.8%. Within our portfolio, the tequila segment grew by 6.4%, marginally below the category's 7.5% growth rate. Notably, our super premium category increased above the industry. Additionally, while our whiskey business experienced a decline of 2.3% versus the category's overall increase of 2.7%, we anticipate a potential rebound in the upcoming quarter. Consumer spending remains affected by inflationary pressures, as highlighted by the Proximo NAPCA numbers. In the first quarter of 2024, our NAPCA consumer value growth reached 2.2%, overperforming the industry average of 1.7% growth. While recognizing the challenges and economic pressures affecting the industry, it's important to note that our product mix remains favorable. with our premium offerings still gaining traction. We remain committed to navigating through this period effectively and will continue focusing on delivering substantial value for our shareholders. I will now turn the call over to Olga Limon to discuss the Mexico and Latin America results.