Budweiser Brewing Co

Welcome to the 2026 First Quarter Results Announcements Conference Call for Budweiser Brewing Company, APAC Limited. Hosting the call today from Budweiser APAC is Mr. Y.J. Chung, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chair of the Board, and Mr. Bernardo Novick, Chief Financial Officer. The results for the three months ended 31st March 2026 can be found in the press release published earlier today and available on the Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and Budwise APAC websites. Before proceeding, let me remind you that some of the information provided during this results call, including our answers to your questions on this call, may contain statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements. These expectations are based on the management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors beyond our control. It is possible that Budweiser PAC actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in this forward-looking statement. Budweiser PAC is under no obligation to and expressly disclaims any such obligation to update the forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors, that could affect Budweiser PAC future results, the risk factors in the company's prospectus dated 18th September 2019, the 2025 annual report published, and any other documents the Budweiser PAC has made public. I would also like to remind everyone that the financial papers discussed here today are provided in US dollars unless stated otherwise. The percentage changes that will be discussed during today's call are both organic and normalized nature unless otherwise stated. Percentage changes refer to comparisons with the 2025 full year. Normalized figures refer to performance measures before exceptional items which are either income or expenses that do not occur regularly as part of but widely packed normal activities. As normalized figures are non-GAAP measures, the company disclosed the consolidated profit, EPS, EBIT, and EBITDA on a fully reported basis in the press release published earlier today. Further details of the 2026 first quarter results can also be found in the press release. It is now my pleasure to pass the time to YJ. Sir, you may begin.

Thank you, Ray, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining today's call. We enter 2026 with a clear focus on recovering volume through disciplined execution across our market. For about APAC, total volume returned to a positive growth supported by continued strong momentum in India. In China, our increased investment shows sign of progress. With the quarter-over-quarter volume decline tightening further, as we remain committed to our strategies of enhancing our e-home route to market, enriching our portfolio, and innovating behind our mega-brand to rebuild momentum. In South Korea, we gained much share in both on-premise and e-home channels. Before we go over financial results, I wanted to take a moment to introduce Fernando Nowick, our new chief financial officer, effective from April 1st this year. Nowick joined ABI Group in 2009 through the global MBE program and has worked across various functions in multiple markets. He brings deep finance and global resource allocation expertise having these projects delivering savings and a meaningful value creation. I'm pleased to welcome him to the BUD APAC team. Let me now hand over to Novik for a brief introduction.

Good morning, everyone. I am delighted to join the BUD APAC team. I would like to thank you, YJ, for your trust and invitation to join the team. I joined AB InBev 16 years ago and spent five years in finance roles, five years in commercial roles, and five years in innovation roles, where I led the corporate venture capital arm in New York. Most recently, I was responsible for our global capital allocation division reporting to the global CFO. I hope I can bring this experience to growth by APAC business in a profitable way. I have already had the pleasure of meeting some of you joining the call today. and I look forward to meeting many more in the next weeks and months ahead. Let me share our financial results for the first quarter of 2026 in more detail. In the first quarter, APAC volume returned to growth, even if it's just 0.1%, after many quarters driven by strong growth in India and a sequential improvement in the industry and our volumes in China, with volume decline narrowing quarter over quarter. This progress was driven by both enhanced execution as well as increased investment across channels and our portfolio, which added temporary pressure to our bottom line. We also maintain strong brand momentum in South Korea, despite a soft industry and a challenging comparable last year. In India, we continue to advance premiumization, delivering strong double-digit volume and revenue growth. In summary, for BAT APACs, total volumes increased by 0.1%, revenue and revenue per hectolitre decreased by 0.7% and 0.8% respectively, normalized EBITDA decreased by 8.1%, while our normalized EBITDA margin contracted by 246 basic points. Now, let me cover some of the highlights from each of our major markets. In China, Volumes decreased by 1.5%, improving sequentially, with a quarter-over-quarter decline continuing to narrow since the second half of 2025. Revenue and revenue per hectolitre decreased by 4% and 2.5%, respectively, impacted by increased investment to support wholesalers and activate our brands in the in-home and emerging channels. Normalized EBITDA decreased by 10.9%, impacted by our top-line performance and increased investments. We continue to make progress in expanding our distribution in the in-home channel while increasing the distribution of our premium brands. This premiumization is more clear in the online to offline or O2O channel, which grew strong double digits in the quarter. Now let me share with you some of the investments we are making on our brands through our marketing campaigns, as well as liquid and package innovations to better connect with our consumers across more locations and increase sales momentum, particularly in their home channel. On Budweiser, we accelerated the national expansion of Budweiser Magnum, building on its strong consumer traction and sustained sales growth. In March, Budweiser Magnum launched an integrated nation one campaign anchored by a strategic partnership with global football icon Erling Haaland and the FIFA World Cup Mega Platform to drive geographic and channel expansion. Regarding our Harlequin family, we introduced Harbin 1900, celebrating its brewing heritage as the birthplace of Chinese beer. Positioned in the Core Plus segment, which is the RMB 8-10 price range, this new innovation is 100% pure malt classic lager, pairing the synthetic vintage packaging with a rich, authentic taste. The launch reinforces Harbin's role in driving innovation and placing new bets in this growing and important 4++ segment. In South Korea, volumes decreased by low teens and revenue decreased by big single digits, mainly due to a challenging comparable in the first quarter of last year, driven by shipments facing ahead of a price increase, that if you recall, was in April 2025. Revenue per hectolitre, on the other hand, increased by low single digits, also comparing with the first quarter last year before the price increase. This led to a normalized EBITDA decreasing by low teens. Having said that, we maintain a good commercial momentum in both in-home and on-premise channels and we foresee a recovery in the second quarter. Finally, India continues to grow and will play a bigger role in our footprint. Industry momentum continued in the first quarter, and we gained total market share. We delivered strong double digit volume and revenue growth, led by a strong growth in our premium and super premium portfolio. We also continue to see momentum in the moderation agenda, with states like Maharashtra and Karnataka introducing changes that decrease the current relative tax advantage of hard liquor versus beer. We see this as a step in the right direction and a sign that some states understand the importance of evolving towards an alcohol tax policy that are consistent with global policy standards, where high alcohol products are taxed higher than low alcohol products, like beer. And with that, YJ and I are here to answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the floor is now open for questions, and please press star 1 to ask a question. If you wish to cancel a request, press star 2. In the interest of time, we ask the participants to limit themselves to two questions, and please ask one question at a time in both English and Mandarin. Our first question is coming from Xiaopo Wei from Citi. Please go ahead. Xiaopo, your line is on mute. Please go ahead. Sorry.

Can you hear me now?

Yes, we can hear you very well.

I'm sorry. I have two questions on China. I'll ask one by one. The first one, in the past two years, we have seen a few senior management leadership changes in the company. So far, is there any treatment or breakthrough that the company would like to share with us with the new leadership? Let me translate the first one, which is about China. In the past two years, we have also seen a lot of companies' higher management level changes. At this point, we also saw that today's performance has a little bit of China's stability. Can you share with us what kind of achievements the new management group has achieved and what breakthroughs can investors share one day? I'll stop here first. I'll ask the second question later. Thank you.

I'm a YG. Let me take these questions. So let me start in English, then I may turn to Chinese if needed. So the changes we have, many happened first half year, last year. And the reason for the changes is a kind of retention between either global, other zone, between the region in China, so, and also between headquarter in China versus operation in the field in region. And the reason for that is to share some bad practice and to further their strengths in each area or each function and also learn each other, best practice sharing. So that's kind of normal retention changes. And to be able to share more answers to your question about the changes of the people. As I mentioned earlier, we keep a consistency of our strategy, which is focused on portfolio, brand portfolio, which is mainly in Harbin and Budweiser. And also focus on in-home and real market. And third one is focus on execution. So those are the three strategies we set up early last year, and we have no changes. And also you see The program we have been made, as Novick just mentioned, quarter over quarter, volume decline, narrow quarter by quarter, and I see very good trends. And also, we see the execution in each area make a huge improvement. And we put a lot of effort to invest our brand and also further focus on the in-home channel that the channel changes reach and reaches that's our further opportunity in our operation. So we see starting from second quarter last year and the fourth quarter last year and the first quarter this year, the trends getting improved time quarter by quarter. So I think that's try to answer your question.

Okay. Thank you. Should I start the second question?

Yeah, go ahead.

Okay. The second question is about the channel inventory. As far as I can recall, the company in China started de-stocking the channel in . It has been a few quarters of de-stocking, and I remember in the last last important earning call, you mentioned that actually our China inventory actually was young and lower versus the historic level. But we know that China is a very dynamic market and is changing areas on a daily basis. So, will you foresee in the future that the China inventory will be below historic level as a new norm? Or is any factor you expect to see before you become more exciting and try to restart the channel looking forward? 那我翻译一下,其实我讲那个中国的业务的这个需要控制问题,我记得我们是从 Chinese market is very dynamic, very changeable. Do you think that in the future, channel storage will always be lower than before? Is it a new trend? Thank you for your question.

You are right. We have been proactively taking steps to adjust our inventory given the current business environment. I will explain these methods in Chinese in more detail. You are right. Storage management, we have been optimizing our storage since the fourth quarter of 2024. In order to have a healthy route to market. At the same time, I would like to share a little bit. Because this storage is designed for sales storage and channel storage. 所以我们现在更关注的一点是STR,就是Sales to Retail, 这样能够更切实地反映我们的销售。 所以我们在管理库存的健康度的同时, 能够给我们的经销商有更多的这种现金流和减轻他们的负担的同时, 我们更关注真实的销售,也就是STR。 So this is what we are doing for the health of the health channels and to realize the real sales and reduce the burden of the business owners. This is actually a very good measure. We don't call it win-win. All win. All the consumers can drink fresh beer. Fresh beer tastes better, right? So, whether it's the management of freshness, or the burden of sales, or the healthiness, or the actual management of our STR sales, in fact, they are all very beneficial. It's an all-win situation. To answer your question, we continue to do healthy storage based on the changes in the economic situation. Thank you.

Our next question is coming from Leif Liu from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi, YG Novik. This is Leif from Goldman Sachs. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. And welcome, Novik, for your first earnings call with Biotech. I have two questions. The first one is on China. So basically, our ground check shows that there's been some volume recovery in the super premium including Corona Blue Girls in the first quarter. So how to look at the sustainability of this trend? How to comment on the untraded consumption recovery so far, including any color to Q2J on the untraded performance in China? I will translate to Mandarin by myself. Yes, the first question is about China. We have also conducted some channel research in the first quarter. We also found that the interesting thing is that the segment of super high-end, including our Lanmei and Corona, actually have a double-digit sales growth in the first quarter. How to see the continuity of such a trend? Hi, Liv. Let me take this question.

I will start the summary of the answer first, then I'm going to talk a little bit detail into the answer in Chinese. Indeed, we grew super premium volume by double digit in the first quarter of 2026 as we focused on premiumization in the in-home channel and O2 channel. In terms of on-field recovering, nine-life channel contribution was stable, and we grew volume in the nine-life channel in first quarter of 2026. However, Chinese restaurant channels remain under pressure. So, back to SuperPremium, this is a very long-term goal of our company. We have a portfolio of brands, including our brand diversification. These are all our long-term goals. For good things, not only on-premise, but also in e-homes, Because consumers now drink less than before, but they want to drink better. So our Premier and Super Premier, our advantages are able to be used. And we can improve more of this variety of high quality, high taste products for consumers. This is our ideal. At the same time, we have also increased our Super Premier and Premier are innovative products. For example, the 740 in Baiwei and the Black Gold Yisheng in Baiwei are all suitable for family consumption and auto consumption. So this kind of Premier Migration has a better connection. In addition, In terms of on-premise consumption, in addition to nightlife and Chinese restaurants, we are also doing night-time economic. In fact, the government, whether it is the central government or the provincial government, is doing some big events. Through music, sports, especially sports, football. So, we are also sponsored by Fujian's Minchao, Sichuan's Chuanchao, and Guangdong's Yuechao. So, together with these activities, we can strengthen the connection with consumers, stimulate the business economy, and also be able to 我们提供高档次的这种产品,所以这是一个对国家,对消费者,对公司也是一个全赢的这么一个局面。 谢谢你的问题。

So the second question is to our new CFO, Novik. So I would like to know what's the three key focus for you this year, which you please share with the investor on the call. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Liv. Nice to hear from you, and thanks for the question. So let me share the three priorities that me and my team will focus this year. The number one priority is growth. And the main objective here is to stabilize the volumes in China. The second priority is to improve execution. And the third priority is value creation. So the number one, the number one is consistent to the business strategy that YJ was describing. And the main objective of the business is to grow volumes here. And in order to do that, we really need to stabilize volumes in China. And the finance role to do that is increasing investments and making the investments more effective. I think it's important here when we manage to stabilize volumes in China, given our footprint in India and in Southeast Asia, we'll be able to reignite growth for the whole Budweiser APAC. Number two priority is execution. I think here finance has an important role, collaborating with our commercial team in China, to enable and upgrade our route-to-market model to help on this transition to more volume in the in-home channels. That's another important priority for us. And the third one is value creation. Here we are reviewing internal investment decisions, improving efficiencies, cost controls. You know, one example here, for example, we are reviewing the unit economics of different tax to make decisions that can help us be more efficient with resource allocation. But ultimately, we are here for growth, and that's our main priority for this year. Thank you very much for the question.

That's super clear. Thanks, Novick. Thanks, YJ.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Elsie Sheng from CLSA. Please go ahead.

Thank you, management, for taking my question. Thank you, YJ, and also welcome, Novick. I have two questions. My first question is on China in-home development. Do you have any updates or progress to share on the development of our trade channel in China? I will translate myself. 我第一个问题是关于中国飞机引渠道的发展, 有没有什么更新和进展可以和大家分享? I will ask my second question later. 我一会儿问我第二个问题,谢谢。

Thank you. Let me take this question. As the channel shifts to in-home channel, we are taking actions to expand in the in-home channel to adapt. As we have a relative low exposure in in-home channel, which means we have a massive growth potential. We are invested to catch up. Because this is a new channel, a new transition. So in the past, we had a lot of this kind of road to market advantage in on-premise. The first thing to do is in the future, this RTM, road to market, through the training of salespeople or new salespeople, to establish such a capacity on the channel. The second aspect is to act in a civilized way. Then for some new channels such as O2O, as well as some timely sales, as well as these new consumer scenes such as zero-waste, etc., how do we establish this connection? At the same time, just like I talked about, 我们的消费者怎么样能够喝得好的,这实际上是对我们的一个primitivation的这么一个好的机会。 那对我们,我们是这方面的,在品牌方面我们是有优势的,所以这方面的优势怎么样进一步发挥。 那么在一些细节方面呢,要更加注重的就是要有一个它的再现性,那也就是它的这个coverage,它的这种覆盖度。 the number of POCs, as well as the availability of FKU products, as well as, as I just said, how to provide better products for consumers in terms of permit validation. In fact, these are all some of the work we are doing. A very remarkable point is that Our first quarter, in terms of O2O, actually gave us a great contribution to the growth of sales in the first quarter. At the same time, in the sales of high-end products, this kind of growth is also a big part of our consumption scene. So through these works, I can also say that we have more advanced plans and some measures. 那么这些会逐渐在将来的时间 逐渐通过严格的落地和执行 能够不断的把它体现出来 能够一个季度一个季度 通过我们这些措施 这些行动计划 能在我们的销量 和在我们的销售输入方面体现出来 谢谢你的问题 谢谢 Thank you My second question is on China commercial investments

So previously, management mentioned that it will increase marketing this year. Is that plan still on track? And what's the marketing plan for the coming peak season and sport event like World Cup? 我翻译一下,就是我想,我第二个问题是关于中国市场的投入,之前有提过今年计划增加那个市场推广的费用,这个计划目前还是不变吗? 然后应对即将进来的,即将到来的啤酒销售旺季以及世界杯这些体育赛事,接下来有什么具体的推广计划吗? 谢谢。 Yes, so as a NOVA Commission, as I mentioned earlier,

In 2026, our top priority in China is a stabilized volume. To achieve this, we have given room to the team, to the commercial team, to increase commercial investment. So that's a direction we set up for the commercial team. 基于在这样一个大前提之下, 我们通过品牌的投入, 通过新产品的投入, Through this kind of family consumption, this kind of channel investment, etc., these can support our Chinese quantity, how to be able to grow from low to high. So this is an idea of our investment in 2026 to support sales. Then these investments, and some of the big sports events this year and some of the world can be combined. This year is also an illegal World Cup year. As you all know, Baiwei has been sponsoring the World Cup for 40 years. This year, we will be combining the World Cup with some celebrities. Orlando, Messi, through packaging, the packaging of history, the packaging of 40 years of review, and the investment of this kind of coverage and sports activities, and stars, and world cup, and the history of our sponsor world cup, this kind of brand can be well combined. At the same time, we are in this super high-end aspect, for example, Kelowna, Then we also have this full-blown one can be this kind of innovative product can be more suitable for everyone at home or when gathered together to watch the world cup from product design and brand of this kind of high-end and sports activities can be with these scenes can be very good to combine so through This kind of investment this year to support our stability this year. Through some sports activities, especially the World Cup, including some innovative products to support different scenarios, plus our super high-end products, this kind of consumer response, combined together, that is to support Thank you. Thank you.

Our next question is coming from Mavis Hui from DBS. Please go ahead.

Hi, management. Thanks for taking my question. Thank you, Rajay, and thanks, Novak. My first question is on China. Could we have some more updates on the growth of your emerging channels, such as O2O instant retail and e-commerce in China? More importantly, how do margins and pricing dynamics across these channels compare with traditional off-trade? And how are we managing potential channel conflicts with our distributors? Let me translate first. 我们希望进一步了解中国新兴渠道的发展情况, 包括O2O, 即时零售, 以及电商渠道, 目前的增长趋势是怎么样? 此外, 这些渠道在利润率和经济茅市方面, 与传统线上渠道相比, 存在怎么样的差距? 同时, 公司在推动新兴渠道发展的过程中, 是如何有效管理, Thank you for your question.

I will take this question as well. O2O is one of the fastest emerging channels in China. They have started to make a fair significant effort to increase our presence within O2O. And we see this as a great opportunity for us in 2026 and beyond. We partner with a major O2O platform to further expand our participation. This O2O is a new channel. And as I said, we have a very good cooperation with some of our major e-commerce platforms. . . . . . . . 那和我们的这种长项呢 能够很好地把它结合起来 我们通过创新产品呢 通过我们这种portfolio 产品portfolio这种丰满度 来满足不同消费者 对高端产品的这种 和创新产品的这种 不同消费场景的这种产品的需求 那么我们也非常关注这种 怎么样来管理好 O2O的这种销售 比方说 So this is a new channel. We have a lot of cooperation with e-commerce in this area, as well as some investment in new products. And my second question is on Korea.

Excluding shipment phasing effects, are we still seeing underlying share gains in South Korea? What are the key challenges to sustaining our performance in the market? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let me take this question again.

Total industry in Korea has remained soft in the first quarter of 2026, with a soft consumer environment continuing to impact overall alcohol consumption. However, our underlying momentum in Korea continued, and we outperformed the industry in both the on-premise and in-home channels. South Korea is a very healthy market for us. Although the industry has grown a little weak, we have been growing in various channels. South Korea has been growing very healthy in the past few years. So, They are very focused. Our team is very focused on our brand. There are constantly different innovative products to meet the needs of different consumers. At the same time, it is very important that our people's execution capability is very strong. So I want to take this opportunity to share with you The reason why South Korea continues to develop in such a healthy way, one of the most important things is that I think there is a employment project in our B&B. What everyone is familiar with is that in the supply chain, we have a VPU employment project that can ensure that our factories and our supply chains can continue to improve our performance when changes occur outside. 那我们在commercial方面呢 也有这样一个作业项目 那韩国呢 在这方面呢 是在不断的夯视我们的作业项目 顺便和大家分享一下 我们全球有个作业项目评比 韩国已经连续两年 在这个商务方面 连续两年是全球第一 那这个呢 也是归功于它的我们这个 We are also very confident that South Korea can use this kind of commercial project, just like the industrial plant project, to ensure that we continue to develop. This project is also being continuously promoted in India, China, and other commercial areas. Thank you. Thank you.

Our next question is coming from Anne Ling from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Hi, thank you. Thank you, YJ, and thank you, Novick. I have two questions here. First is on the cost of crystal in general. We saw some raw materials price volatility, and this has been coming up recently, for example, like aluminum. So what will be our view on the raw material cost for year 2027? Thank you. In the first quarter of 2026, our cost-perfect leader

decreased by 0.8%, mainly driven by efficiency improvement, partially offset by commodity headwind. 成本管理,我叫效率管理了, 效率之王,上次小伯问的这个问题。 实际上我们在这方面呢, 我刚才谈到供应链的作业项目, 我们的业绩,我们的成本管理, 在效率管理这些方面呢, 是非常有优势的。 So we are still very confident in this aspect. Specifically, the price fluctuation of materials you mentioned, in fact, this kind of raw material, including fabric material, is still declining. It may be that the price fluctuates a little in the field of aluminum. But if we are a global company, we have a hedge. The hedge time is usually 12 months. So our hedge determines the stability of our cost. That is to say, in 2026, we will not be affected by it. So, whether it is in the price of long-term materials, or in the global advantage of high-end materials, including the decline of raw materials, and our experience in efficiency management, in fact, we are constantly strengthening management, and it is in a stable state. I hope I can answer your question. Thank you.

好,谢谢。那我第二个问题就是在印度那边。So my second question is on the India side. So could you share with us on the Indian market update, how do we see the market competition and strategy over there? I understand that we are focusing more on market share. So may I know when the company will start focusing on the profitability of the market? It's still a little bit too early. And that competition is still very keen. Should Towsport be listed? What is your view on the competitive environment afterwards? 我先翻译一下,这个问题在印度方面,可以分享一下印度市场那边的最新的一个情况。 How do you look at the competition pattern of the Indian market and our strategy? My understanding is that we are still focused on the market. When will the company start to pay attention to the ability to make profits? Thank you. In India

we are focused on sustainable and meaningful top-line goals that can translate to EBITDA and cash flow goals accordingly. 我这样来回答呢,是因为我们这个,首先,我们在印度,先说一下印度的这种行业情况,印度的啤酒行业呢,是在增长的。这个呢,对我们大家都是有帮助的。第二个呢, India's consumption of beer is still at a very low level. So this is also an opportunity for our beer industry. So in this case, let's talk about our advantages. We have been in the first quarter since last year. Our business in India, especially this year's first quarter, is a two-digit growth. This growth also includes two aspects. One is that our premium and super premium are growing. The second is that our total amount of growth has led to an increase in the total market share. At the same time, our premium and super premium growth has also led to a growth in premium and super premium, market share. Our business is two-thirds of India's business is premium and super premium. So this is a very big advantage for us in India. So this brings back your question. In fact, we are in this kind of top line growth, this kind of market share growth, this kind of volume growth, super premium and premium growth at the same time. In fact, this is reflected in our top line. That revenue is also a double growth. It's the same. At the same time, it also reflects on our profit growth. and the improvement of our cash flow. In fact, these growths are not about the future. They have already been manifested. There are already reactions. So this is a very positive growth. So India is a very big growth point for us, not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of high-endization, in terms of our profit contribution, including in terms of the improvement of our cash flow. So India's The growth of the beer industry, the increase in consumption, also gave us more opportunities. So we are now running, and it is very healthy. India now also has what Novik just talked about, which is moderation. Consumers are also turning from high alcohol content to low alcohol content drinks like beer. In this way, the governments of each state are also making changes in this regard. In this way, for our beer industry, and for our high-end beer companies, this is a good sign. So this will be very healthy for our business development in India, and there will be a lot of opportunities for future development. And for our Asia-Pacific, for our whole ABI, Thank you.

Our next question is coming from Li Lin Lo from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Thanks for the opportunity. And thank you, YG and Bernardo for the other detailed answer previously. Congrats to Bernardo for your new role. I have two questions. The first one is on China pricing. Because YJ just mentioned that the raw material are fully hatched and relatively stable. But on the pricing side, any price action and the makeshift that you observe that could improve the overall pricing in the market in general? 我先翻一下我这个问题,是关于中国市场的这个价格走向。 From the cost side, as YJ mentioned earlier, we have made full use of the set-up value. The pressure on the cost should not be that great. On the other hand, on the price side, from the price itself, some of the mistakes made or the combination of products, have we observed any positive movements? In this case, it may affect the overall price range in the future. Hi, Lillian.

Nice to hear from you. Thank you for the question. I think all the answers should start with the same reminder that our main priority, right, is growth, and particularly to stabilize the volumes in China. It's true that in the first quarter, our net revenue per hectolitre was below last year, and this was impacted by investments, mainly in three objectives for the investments. to support our wholesalers, to activate our brands, and also to accelerate the growth in O2O. But on the other hand, we have positive mixed effects coming from our brands, mainly driven by our premium and super premium brands. I think it's important to mention to you and the press that we expect to continue to invest in 2026. Regarding price, we will continue to monitor always the prices in the market, and we are open to adjustments if something changes. But at this moment, we don't have any news regarding price increase for China. Thank you, William, for the question.

Thanks a lot, Bernardo. My second question is on Korea, South Korea markets. We all know that last year, April, you had... price increase and which still benefited the first few this year on the pricing side. But what will drive the South Korea revenue and also pricing and the EBITDA growth for the rest of the year, in particular the industry really a little bit soft and the competition is still there. So this is the question on Korea. The second question is about Korea's business. Last year in April, after we raised the price, the price-to-price comparison this year was relatively easy, and the technical effect was gone. In the future, if we look at the price-to-price trend and income, and EBITDA, I can take this one too.

Very good question, Lilian. Thanks. When we think about like a medium-term margin growth for APAC East and Korea, I think there are mainly three things that can drive this. One is, of course, pricing. The second one, operational efficiencies. And the third one I think is important to mention is mix and innovations. Let me talk about each one of them. On prices, of course, we always consider our pricing decisions, looking at what's happening in the beer market, but also the macroeconomic situation in the country. We'll continue to monitor. Singapore and China, we don't have anything to announce at this point. On the second part, operational efficiencies. Here we continue to implement cost management initiatives. This is one of our main strengths at Budweiser APAC. That's why Jay was talking about our efficiency and excellence programs that we have. So this is something that we still see opportunities. And number three, I think mix and premiumization and innovations are very important for us in the future. Maybe I can share a couple of examples. One of them is the growth of Stella Artois in the own trade. I think that's a good and healthy growth. The other one is the non-alcoholic beer, like, for example, Cab Zero Zero. I think both of them are good examples of innovations that can both drive volume growth but also margin expansion. So, overall, I think that, you know, we see opportunities to keep recovering margins in Korea in the future. Thank you for the question.

Thanks a lot, Bernardo.

Thank you. In the interest of time, our final questions will come from Lingda Huang from Macquarie. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Brain Management, for taking my questions. My first one is regarding for dividends. And given that Bernardo has really taken up the CFO role, So I just want to know that whether from the group perspective, whether you would change the capital approach, especially that last two years, right, they pay out $5.66 per share dividend to the shareholders. So whether this dividend per share policy under review. So this is my first question. 那第一道问题呢,就是关于这个我们的股息分红啊, Thank you, Linda. Nice to hear from you.

Thanks for the question. So I think it's important to remind everybody, right, we are working to deliver sustainable long-term results for our shareholders, right? And the other message is that our capital allocation strategy remains the same. Our first priority continues to be to invest in our business, like we are doing this year, to drive organic growth, followed by M&A when we see opportunities for acquisitions. That's the second one. And then the third one to return to our shareholders, for example, via dividend. That is also what we have been doing, right? So I think we are very proud of our dividend track record since the beginning, recently with the announcement of the $750 million dividend that we announced for 2025, which by the way was consistent to the dividend for the previous 2024. So I think if I have to summarize, We are working towards improving our business performance this year to be able to keep this consistency in the future. Thanks for the question.

Thank you very much. My second question is regarding for our products, and I think this may be why Jay and me can help. So when we compare China to the other Western countries, I think there's always plenty of room for alcohol product innovation. So I just want to know that, again, whether management can elaborate more about our product innovation plans, and then what kind of innovation strategy will fit well for our China market. 那第二道问题呢,我相信这个YJ一定会拉起来的心理手法。 就我想问一下就是关于我们中国酒类市场的这个产品创新哦, Because compared to other Western countries, I think there are a lot of opportunities for innovation. Can you please introduce our company's innovation plan in detail? And if we are adapting to the innovation strategy of the Chinese market, what kind of approach should it be?

Thank you very much. Thank you for your question. I'll just say it in Chinese. Innovation is actually very important. In addition to increasing investment, At the same time, innovation is also a very important point. Now we are talking about the change in consumer trends, which is divided into two parts. One part is the change in consumer scenarios, which is from on-premise to in-home, O2O. On the other hand, the change in consumer trends is different consumer experiences. Consumer experiences must be divided into different groups and different consumer products. So in this respect, As an ABI, as a global company, we have an advantage in innovation and pipeline. Combined with the Chinese consumers, we have several categories. One is in terms of super high-end products. Whether it is Corona, Broker, or other super high-end products, we have different consumption scenarios and different consumer groups. . . . . . We recently introduced the 1900 whole wheat beer, including the first beer company in the history of Harbin. This kind of history, this kind of inheritance, etc. This kind of taste, this kind of taste, this kind of taste, this kind of taste, this kind of taste, this kind of taste, this kind of taste, this kind of taste, etc. So, at the same time, I would like to mention that if there is a chance to go to South Korea, we will use South Korea's KAS, Innovation, 4-0, and other various products. Innovation Pipeline is also very advantageous. So, let's answer your question. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I hope to have the opportunity to talk to you.

Thank you.

Thank you. That concludes our Q&A session today. I would like to turn the conference back over to YJ for the closing remarks.

Thank you. As I mentioned on our 2025 annual result call early this year, our priority is to stabilize volume and rebuild our market share momentum in China by investing in our e-home route to market and a leading premier portfolio. The progress of we have been seeing in the first quarter and have been encouraging. On this positive note, thank you all for joining us today, and I am looking forward to speaking to you soon.

Thank you, and this concludes today's results call. Please disconnect your lines. Thank you.