Becleb De Cv Stock

Good morning, and thank you for joining Becle'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 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 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. Before we begin, we 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 in the Mexican Stock Exchange.

The information for the second quarter of 2026 is preliminary and is provided with the understanding that once financial statements are available, updated information will be shared in the appropriate electronic formats.

[Operator Instructions] Now I will pass the call on to Becle's CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckmann.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Becle's second quarter 2026 results. The global spirits landscape continued to face headwinds in the second quarter and throughout the first half of the year.

Despite an increasingly cautious consumer and competitive environment, the resilience of our business and our core tequila category reinforce our confidence in the fundamental strength of our brand portfolio and business model. Encouraging signs of recovery in the U.S., coupled with sustained momentum in Mexico and rest of the world supports a more constructive outlook as we enter the second half of the year.

During the quarter, we delivered mid-single-digit organic volume growth outside of the U.S. while sustaining a strong EBITDA margin on a constant currency basis, plus healthy cash flow generation and leverage ratios. Although the appreciating peso weighted our reported numbers, our financial situation is solid and puts us in a strong position to continue advancing our strategic agenda.

In Mexico, we continue to gain market share across both the tequila category and total spirits in both volume and value. Our Rest of the World region also maintained its positive momentum, supported by the continued growth and progress in our strategic priority markets.

We remain realistic about the environment but confident in our direction. Our focus remains on the strength of our brands and disciplined execution across every region and market as we continue to construct long-term profitable growth. With that, I will turn it over to Mauricio Vergara to walk us through our U.S. and Canada results in greater detail.

Thank you, Juan. And good morning, everyone.

During the second quarter, our performance in the U.S. and Canada region continued to reflect the transition we outlined at the start of the year, driven by the execution of our distributor realignment strategy and the deliberate reduction of inventory levels following the build at the end of 2025.

While reported results remained soft, they were in line with our expectations, and we delivered sequential improvement versus the first quarter, reinforcing our confidence that the business is moving in the right direction. Shipments declined 8.7% during the quarter, reflecting both the ongoing distribution transition and continued inventory reductions.

As we have previously highlighted, shipments are not fully representative of the underlying demand in this environment. Depletions provide a clearer view of performance, declining 4.7% overall. This continues to reflect the divergence between transition and non-transition markets with non-transition markets declining approximately 3.7%, while transition markets declined approximately 8.4%.

I would emphasize that our non-transition markets are performing better than the overall category where our route to market is stable, demand for our brands remains healthy and the distinction remains critical to understand the underlying performance of our business.

From a category standpoint, pressure on full-strength spirits persisted during the quarter as prepared cocktails remain the primary driver of industry growth and the gap between demand for ready-to-drink formats and full-strength spirits continues to widen.

According to SipSource data through May, full-strength spirits depletions declined 5.5% with tequila down 4.7%. While tequila is not immune to the broader slowdown, it remains one of the most resilient categories and continues to outperform the broader full-strength spirits market.

Within our portfolio, we continue to see clear pockets of growth, reflecting our strategic bets. RTDs delivered another quarter of double-digit growth, supported by increased focus and investment. This reinforces our confidence that participating in the right consumer occasions through innovation in this category is the right strategy.

Our core portfolio essentially held its ground through a structural shift in the market. The ultra-premium segment also continues to grow strongly and is increasingly supporting our mix as it scales. Turning to consumer takeaway. Nielsen data through June 20 shows Proximo's tequila volumes declined 6.6% against an industry that declined of 4.1%.

While our spirit volumes, excluding prepared cocktails, declined 7.5% versus a 5.4% decline for the broader market. When we isolate the markets least affected by the transition, the underlying strength of our brands becomes much clearer. In the controlled states, NABCA, which are the most reflective of true consumer pull, we have now delivered 6 consecutive months of share growth in total tequila.

This gives us confidence that our strategy is working and that the pressure we're seeing is concentrated in the open markets undergoing the route-to-market transition rather than in genuine consumer demand for our brands. On inventory, we are now through most of the rebalancing as we move stock from our previous distributor to our new partners across the 18 transition markets.

Destocking continued during the quarter, but a reduced pace, and we expect this dynamic to ease further, supporting sequential improvement in the second half of the year. Turning to pricing. The environment remains highly competitive with continued pressure across categories as peers compete for share in a slowing market.

Our strategic price positioning remains unchanged. We are using targeted tactical promotional activity and short-term pricing adjustments to remain competitive while protecting long-term brand equity and value perception. At the same time, we continue to invest behind our brands at one of the highest rates in the industry, being increasingly selective about where we deploy those resources to protect our core.

Looking ahead, we remain focused on disciplined execution, and we expect our performance to improve as the transition moves behind us. While the industry environment remains challenging, the steps we're taking today are strengthening our commercial foundation and positioning the business for sustainable long-term growth.

I will now turn the call over to Olga Limon to discuss the Mexico and Latin America results.

Thank you, Mauricio, and good morning, everyone. Turning to Mexico. The spirits industry remained under pressure during the quarter with a slowdown, particularly in value as the environment turned increasingly promotional. Against this backdrop, our portfolio continued to outperform the broader market.

As in prior quarters, the clearest view of our performance excludes the B:oost brand, which materially impacted volume during the quarter. Excluding B:oost, our volumes grew 5.5%, driven by our tequila portfolio, while net sales value increased 4.9%. On a reported basis, net sales value grew 1.8%. According to Nielsen data through May, we continue to outperform the industry across every key metric.

In total spirits, our volume declined by 0.5% compared to a 3.9% contraction for the industry, while value declined 4.4% versus 7.1% for the market. Within tequila, our volumes grew 1.2%, while the category fell 1.2% and value declined 3.5% against a 6.9% decline for the category.

Once more, these results reinforce our leadership position in Mexico. During the quarter, our product mix shifted toward the value segment as our lower-end brands offer consumers an attractive value proposition. At the same time, our premium portfolio continued to grow, a clear sign that demand for our higher-end brands remains healthy.

Additionally, the exit of B:oost, which carried a dilutive price per case improved our overall mix and increased our average price per case. From a pricing standpoint, the market remains highly competitive with hard discounting from some competitors. We have held firm as price leaders in an aggressive price promotional environment.

In Latin America, trends across the region remain more encouraging as we continue to focus on protecting value and further premiumizing the portfolio. Overall, our resilience performance and the strength of our premium portfolio reinforce our confidence in sustaining our leadership across Mexico and the broader region.

I will now turn the call over to Shane Hoyne. Thank you.

Thank you, Olga, and good morning, everyone. The first half of 2026 delivered continued strong performance across EMEA and APAC, once again reflecting the underlying strength of our brands in what remains a relatively flat market environment.

Asia continued to deliver positive growth over the first half, while performance in EMEA was supported by strong category dynamics and healthy underlying demand for our brands. In the Middle East, we saw some impact from the instability in the region we discussed last quarter, although this was not meaningful at an overall regional level.

It remains to be seen how this will evolve over the remainder of the year. For the first half of the year, shipments grew by 9% versus the same period last year, while depletions remained broadly flat. As we have noted before, shipments and depletions can move at different paces, and these dynamics tend to balance out over the course of the year.

Inventory levels across the region remain healthy following the volatility observed through 2025. At the same time, pricing conditions remain highly competitive. We remain disciplined on our pricing, a dynamic we expect to remain a consistent theme across markets as we move through 2026.

From a category perspective, our tequila portfolio continues to gain momentum across the region, supported by growing consumer interest and a deeper understanding of the category. Tequila continues to share -- to take share from other spirits, and we expect this trend to continue through the second half.

Overall, the region continues to perform resiliently in a complex and evolving environment and category fundamentals remain supportive of long-term growth. As we look to the second half, we remain confident in tequila's ability to drive both volume and value expansion across the region, backed by the strength of our portfolio and our established route-to-market strategy.

I will now hand you over to Rodrigo, who will take you through the financial results.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I will now walk you through the financial results for the second quarter of 2026. The company reported a 13.9% decrease in consolidated net sales, reaching MXN 9.9 billion. This decline mainly reflects foreign currency effects from the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar.

On a constant currency basis, net sales decreased 5.8%, representing a sequential improvement compared to the first quarter of the year as the distributor transition in the U.S. and inventory rightsizing continues to advance. Gross profit decreased 21.2% in the second quarter to MXN 5 billion, while gross margin decreased from 55.1% in the second quarter of 2025 to 50.4%.

The decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by unfavorable foreign currency effects and adverse geographic mix. This was partially offset by stable input costs, consistent with last quarter. On a constant currency basis, the gross margin would have been 53%. A&P expenses declined 18.9% in the quarter.

On a year-to-date basis, A&P stood at 19.5% of net sales within our full year guidance range of 19% to 21% Distribution expenses decreased 13.4%, remaining stable at 4.5% of net sales. SG&A expenses decreased 9.2% or 1.8% on a constant currency basis, reflecting continued discipline on overhead and strong control across the organization.

Operating income decreased 27.3% with operating margin at 17.4%. Adjusting for FX, operating margin would have been 19.8%. Operating results for the quarter include other income of MXN 206 million compared to MXN 130 million in the second quarter of 2025, primarily driven by releasing U.S. accruals related to U.S. distribution agreements.

EBITDA for the second quarter declined 23.4%, with EBITDA margin contracting 260 basis points to 20.9%. Adjusting for FX, the EBITDA margin would have been 23.1%, broadly stable versus the prior year, underscoring the resilience of our underlying profitability despite a complex industry environment.

The net financial results recorded a gain of MXN 198 million compared to a gain of MXN 364 million in the second quarter of 2025. This variation was primarily driven by a lower foreign exchange gain, partially offset by lower interest expense, reflecting our reduced debt levels.

Second quarter consolidated net income decreased 29.6% to MXN 1.4 billion, with the net margin at 14.3% compared to 17.5% in the second quarter of 2025. Earnings per share were MXN 0.39 compared to MXN 0.56 for the second quarter of 2025. Adjusting for FX, net income would have declined 12.6%.

As of June 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents totaled MXN 9.6 billion, an increase of MXN 2.7 billion compared to the prior year, while total debt was MXN 18.5 billion, a decrease of MXN 3.3 billion. In the first 6 months of 2026, the company generated MXN 4.2 billion in net cash from operating activities, reflecting solid profitability and continued working capital discipline.

Our balance sheet remains very strong with adjusted net leverage of 1.1x within our target range of 1x to 1.5x. During the quarter, we continued to execute our capital allocation strategy, including the payment of our annual dividend in May.

This reflects our ongoing commitment to returning capital to shareholders while preserving financial strength and flexibility. Finally, we are confirming our 2026 guidance of low single-digit consolidated net sales value decline on a constant currency basis.

I will now turn the call back to the operator for the questions-and-answer session. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Ricardo Alves.

I have a couple of questions in the U.S. When we look at the tequila category specifically, July numbers, they seem to have performed better for the industry relative to what we saw in the last 6 months or so. So my first question is, do you see a normalization of demand or maybe inventories as it pertains to tequila in the U.S.?

Or is it too early to tell? That's the first question, more on the industry, the level of inventories that you see. And then the second one, when we were looking at the same data, but at your specific brands, Jose Cuervo Especial, both gold and silver and 1800, we noted that consumer takeaway is still down in the mid-single digit.

My sense is that, that could be reflective of a very fierce competition in mainstream and premium categories. I wanted to just explore a little bit more of that. Do you see other players still aggressive in frontline discounts, lowering prices, effectively lowering prices? So those are the 2 questions, one more industry and then the other one more on the competition side.

Thank you, Ricardo. It's Mauricio, and thank you for both your questions. In terms of your first one around is tequila normalizing, I would say it's too early to tell because if you go back to May, May was maybe one of the worst months we saw in the industry, then June got a little bit better.

So we still see volatility in the market. Tequila is still remains performing better than the industry in general terms. But I wouldn't dare to say at this point that it's already stabilizing. I think we need to wait still another quarter at least to see how the trend continues to evolve.

But because as I said, what we've seen throughout the year is some months that are really bad then gets a little bit better. So still a lot of volatility in the marketplace. Regarding your second question, I think it's a combination of things, the way I would answer it. One is, yes, there is very aggressive pricing happening in that price tier with many of the competitors moving price down. But when it comes to our brands, as I mentioned during the call, it's important to separate the performance of transition markets versus non-transition markets because when I actually look at our performance overall in markets where we're not transitioning, our depletions are declining 3.7% when tequila is down around 4.7%.

So we see -- when I isolate the transition, our stable markets are performing way better. The other indication for us, when you look at NABCA, because it's a good indicator for us because I think more reflective of true consumer pool.

As a company, we have -- in tequila, we have won share for 6 consecutive months where we have actually taken some tactical price adjustments to stay competitive against these other competitors that are being extremely aggressive in price. And we have seen that result actually in their performance slowdown and our share improving.

So I think that's why it's a little bit multifaceted where you have the impact of transition markets versus non where we're doing better. We're taking some promotional actions and some tactical strategic pricing to remain competitive.

But what we don't want to do is change the overall strategic positioning of our brands versus them because at the end, as the category stabilizes, we want to be in a strong position from a pricing and equity perspective. So I hope that provides you more insight, Ricardo.

Our next question comes from the line of Fernando Olvera.

My first question is related to volume overall. Maybe if you can comment if the soccer World Cup had any positive effect on volumes that help you mitigate consumption weakness? And if any, can you give us some color of the impact?

And my second question is related to other income. Can you give us more details of the MXN 206 million registered at such line?

Fernando, I can speak for the U.S. when it comes to the World Cup. I think at this point, it's very difficult to say because you still saw in July a decline in the industry, more or less continuing the same trend. So we will have to see how July closes and as we move into August to really see if there was any significant improvement.

It's hard to see right now that something dramatically happened. Maybe we did see some very short-term benefit in some of the on-trade accounts for people watching games, but nothing that I would say really provided a big uplift in the marketplace. So that's from a U.S. perspective.

Fernando, as for Mexico, it's very similar. We have data up to May right now. But from what we've seen, we didn't really actually get a benefit from the World Cup. It was more beer that really got better consumption. Yes, like Mauricio said, some bars definitely went higher in tequila. But in general, I think the big winner was beer. So that's what I can say for my region.

I just think from the rest of the world perspective, I would echo my colleagues, very difficult to measure any material impact and nothing that we've seen to date that would suggest there is a material impact.

Fernando, for your second question regarding other income benefits, this is actually related to contractual settlements with U.S. distributors from previous years. We had taken a conservative position before and basically reserve the contingent amount, which we're releasing now because the risk has been eliminated.

So that's similar to the benefits we reported previous year. This basically almost concludes the settlement agreements. And that's the only thing related to this other income, Fernando.

Okay. Sorry, just a clarification. Is the last quarter that we are going to see this or...

Yes, pretty much. I mean there will be just a little remaining, but this is uncertain at this time, which is why we're not booking that.

Our next question comes from the line of Ben Theurer.

This is Ben Theurer from Barclays. So 2 very quick ones. I want to like to dig in a little bit more on the profitability side of the equation. So obviously, you've laid out the FX impact on gross profit. But I was wondering if we could also dial in a little deeper in those roughly 200 basis points of contraction that you saw on the gross margin in constant currency terms.

I get it there was some regional mix, but I would also like to understand if there was anything in between the portfolios in the regions that drove that mix. And then my second question, literally going down the line here in a similar way.

As we look into your A&P expense, obviously, it came down over 100 basis points versus a year ago. It's still year-to-date in a range that you're targeting for. But just given the market dynamics, is it fair to assume that you're probably going to end up at the lower end of your full year guidance?

Or are you seeing any opportunities in the second half to actually increase spending as there are maybe things such as the tennis tournament and the U.S. Open, et cetera, upcoming. So just to understand a little bit the cadence here.

Ben, thank you for the questions. Regarding your first question, the 200 basis points, most of that is actually related to geographical mix as prices and profitability are higher outside of Mexico. And so the U.S. mix and contribution to the overall Becle results is actually affecting that from a mix perspective.

As you well mentioned, there is, to a lesser degree, some product unfavorable mix as well. As you heard from my colleagues on the commercial front, there is pricing and competitive pressure on the different markets. And while premium categories continue to grow and perform well, value categories are also accelerating and performing well.

So that obviously has an unfavorable mix impact on a profitability level. But most of it is geographical mix. And in regards to A&P, A&P spend is being very cautiously managed given this environment. So year-to-date, we're 19.5%. We're well within the range, and we don't expect to significantly deviate from current results.

Our next question comes from the line of Froylan Mendez.

On the U.S., where is your U.S. inventory today versus the target or the ideal level? If you can give us some sort of weeks of supply or days on hand type of measure? And what is the specific time frame to get back to that target?

And in that similar line, is competitor pricing, let's say, this aggression in the pricing mainly a function of this destocking and inventory clearing that you are doing and probably the industry is doing? Or is it more driven by a cost advantage that some of the peers might have that could persist?

Thank you, Froylan. Mauricio here. On the inventory side, we're pretty much at our target. So as we get into the second half of the year, I expect to see a more aligned depletions versus shipments number. So right now, we have really completed our destocking in the marketplace, we wanted to make sure that we use the first half to do that as we go into the next half and really focus on execution and making sure that we just hold the inventory levels at the level we're right now.

So we shouldn't continue to see the discrepancies between shipments and depletions that we saw during the first half of the year. In terms of your second question on pricing, I think right now because the main driver of competitors being aggressive on pricing is mainly because of the contraction in the industry and everyone fighting for share.

And some companies may be prioritizing volume over value, and that's driving a lot of the pricing. I would agree with you that there are some because of the low cost of agave, there may be more flexibility in the P&L of the industry in general to be as aggressive as pricing as it's happening within tequila.

But I think that as far as the industry continues to see this contraction, these pricing actions will remain in the marketplace. And as I said, from our perspective, we are using revenue management levers in the promotional side mainly to be more tactical and respond and remain competitive without jeopardizing our brand positioning strategically for the long term.

Because as the industry starts to normalize, we want to be placed in a position of strength and continue to build the brand for the long term.

If I can follow up on your first comment. You say that you are reaching, let's say, the target inventory levels. How do you describe that this level today compares to historical or maybe pre-pandemic levels? Is it a similar level than historical or it's a much lower level given the, let's say, reality of the industry today?

It's definitely lower levels, and we want to make sure that we're working with our distributor partners to optimize and responsibly manage working capital. So for sure, I would say that not only ours, but in general, the industry is in an effort to move inventory levels down, but ours is definitely lower than the pre-pandemic.

Our next question comes from the line of Antonio Hernandez.

This is Antonio Hernandez from Actinver. Well, you mentioned before that premium categories continue to perform well, value categories as well. So we can maybe say that there's a kind of a K-shaped economy or at least consumer trends. Are you seeing this across the world, i.e., Mexico, the U.S., rest of the world and so on? Or is this more specific to some regions? And how is Cuervo reacting to this?

Antonio, this is true for Mexico. This is something that's happening in our portfolio. So I would say this is more happening to us, not necessarily in the industry. I would say that the performance is based more on brand perception from the consumer and not a general trend. That's what I would say.

In the U.S., you definitely see -- I mean, it's multifaceted, I would say, the dynamics that are happening. From a price bracket perspective, you see definitely a movement towards the not super premium, but premium space, premium and below. There's a lot of action happening there in terms of pricing, and there's definitely a movement towards that price point.

That being said, as I mentioned during the call, from our perspective, we're protecting that through the actions we -- I already mentioned on competitive pricing. But we see brands like Gran Coramino on our side, which is a super premium brand, growing very significantly and winning important share in the marketplace with that brand being one of the fastest-growing brands in the industry.

So I think that even though there's a general movement towards lower price points, there's still a selected brands that are well positioned and being preferred with the consumer that are still doing really well in higher price points.

From a Rest of World perspective, it's nuanced, but we continue to see strong preference for premium brands, especially in tequila, and that is across EMEA and APAC. There is an overall category trend towards more well-known larger brands that offer slightly more value. But I think our portfolio is well balanced across all of that. So it's definitely while there is a category dynamic, I think our portfolio is quite resilient to it.

Our next question comes from the line of Alejandro Fuchs.

Alejandro Fuchs from Itaú BBA. I have 2 brief ones, maybe more from a strategic perspective, less on the quarter. I wanted to see if maybe we can talk a little bit if you look at the company's health and the balance sheet and the cash flow generation that you are making despite some of the pressures on the spirits market, it's actually quite remarkable.

So how do you see the balance between positioning the company maybe to acquire some brands maybe at interesting valuations and taking advantage of this maybe shakiness in the market of spirits globally relative to remaining conservative and disciplined towards the future.

And then my second question would be, if we look at the next 10 years of the tequila market today, where do you see the biggest opportunities today, thinking more about the long term, a little bit less about the short-term pressure that we have in the market?

Regarding acquiring brands, we're always analyzing if there are any opportunities. And of course, we are -- if we see something interesting, we will analyze it and see if it's available. And long term, well, tequila outside of Mexico, it's still a category that has a lot of room for growth. So we believe there's a huge opportunity internationally.

Our next question comes from the line of [ Kevin Zabala. ]

This is Kevin from UBS. On Mexico performance, Mexico continued to outperform the broader industry with organic volumes up 5%. So I would like to -- if you could provide some color on what's driving the volume outperformance and whether the slightly negative revenue per liter performance reflects a category mix, channel mix or promotional activity? And further, how sustainable is the current rate of volume growth in the second half?

Kevin. Well, in Mexico, as you know, and I've said before, the total industry volume is decreasing minus 4% year-to-date and minus 7% in value. So the reason that we are performing well is the strength of our brands and our diversified portfolio.

As we go through the second half of the year, we believe that we are in line with our budget guidance, but we are still in a very tough competitive environment with promotional activity. So what is driving this is the brand equity and our strategy to be able to navigate this very difficult environment. That's what I would say.

Thank you. That is all the time we have for questions. So that concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.

Good morning, and thank you for joining Becle'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 our use of terms and phrases such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend 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 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.

Before we begin, we 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 in the Mexican Stock Exchange. The information for the first quarter of 2026 is preliminary and is provided with the understanding that once financial statements are available, updated information will be shared in the appropriate electronic formats. [Operator Instructions]

Now I will pass the call on to Becle's CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckmann.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Becle's first quarter 2026 results. We faced a challenging quarter, primarily driven by a significant distributor transition program in the U.S., which resulted in a 13.4% volume decline. Importantly, this impact does not reflect the underlying performance of the business. We view this as a forward-looking investment in our commercial foundation, establishing a stronger platform for long-term growth, although with temporary disruption to shipments.

On an organic basis, performance in the U.S. was affected by inventory resets versus year-end 2025 and continued softness in full strength spirits consumption. Mauricio will provide a more detailed breakdown of first quarter depletions across both transition and non-transition markets, offer greater visibility into underlying trends. In Mexico, our momentum remained strong throughout the quarter, and our brands not only held their ground but consistently gained market share across both the tequila category and total spirits.

Finally, our Rest of the World region also sustained its positive momentum with both shipments and depletions growing. We continue to perform resiliently and underlying category dynamics remain constructive. The strategic investments we have made to build our diversified global spirits portfolio proved their value this quarter, cushioning the impact of what we communicated last quarter would be transitional period in the -- would be a transitional period in the U.S.

With that, I will turn it over to Mauricio Vergara to walk us through our U.S. and Canada results in greater detail.

Thank you, Juan, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, our performance in the U.S. and Canada region reflected a continuation of the trends we outlined in the previous call. As expected, this is a period of transition for the business, driven by the execution of our distributor realignment strategy and deliberate actions to reduce inventory levels following the build we saw at the end of 2025.

While reported results for the quarter were soft, they were in line with our expectations. In this context, shipments declined 23.8% during the quarter, reflecting both intentional inventory reductions and the ongoing distributor transition. As we have highlighted, shipments are not fully representative of underlying demand in this environment. Depletions provide a clear view of performance, declining 9% overall.

Importantly, this reflects a divergence between transition and non-transition markets, with transition markets declining approximately 12%, while non-transition markets declined around 5%, which is better than the industry. This distinction remains critical to understand the underlying performance of the business. From a category standpoint, headwinds for the full-strength spirits have intensified during the quarter.

According to C-stores, data through February, full-strength spirits depletions declined 7.1% with tequila down 6.2%, meaning it is holding up better than most categories, but still clearly declining within a contracting environment. At the same time, prepared cocktails remained the primary growth driver in the industry, with the gap between ready-to-drink formats and full-strength spirits continuing to widen.

In our portfolio, RTD delivered double-digit growth, supported by increased focus and investment. Within this environment, our own portfolio performance reflects both the category backdrop and the impact of the distributor transition.

Year-to-date Nielsen data through March 21 shows that Proximo Tequila volumes declined 3.9% compared to flat performance for the industry, while Proximo Spirits volumes, excluding prepared cocktails, declined 4.9% versus a 3.1% decline of the broader market. While this reflects some short-term pressure, it is important to recognize that transition markets represent the largest portion of the markets measured by Nielsen. From an inventory standpoint, we're actively rebalancing stock levels as we move inventory from our previous distributors to the new partners.

This process will continue throughout the year and will keep shipments somewhat volatile as they reflect both destocking and transition-related movements. Importantly, the transition is progressing as expected with no material supply disruptions, although we are still working through gaps in distribution coverage, promotional continuity and retail execution across these transition markets. We are now focused on leveraging the strength of our new distributor partners to drive consistency in execution and are confident that once the transition is stabilized, our distribution and execution standards will show important improvements versus historical levels.

Turning to pricing. The environment remains highly competitive with continued pressure across categories as companies compete for share in a slowing market. Our approach remains disciplined as we believe avoiding aggressive discounting is critical to protecting long-term brand equity and margin integrity. From a channel perspective, on-premise continues to outperform off-premise by approximately 200 basis points, and we see this as a key opportunity.

We are increasing our focus and shifting investment towards high-impact accounts in major cities as this channel remains critical for brand building and long-term growth. Looking ahead, we are investing in what is working, including Reposado small formats, the Jose Cuervo Sparkling relaunch, prepared cocktails and accelerated expansion in the on-premise channel. These are areas where demand remains more resilient and where we are focusing our efforts.

While near-term pressures persist, we remain confident in the long-term strength of the U.S. spirits market and in our ability to deliver sustainable growth.

I will now turn the call over to Olga Limon to discuss Mexico.

Thank you, Mauricio, and good morning, everyone. Moving to Mexico. The spirits industry remains under pressure with year-over-year declines in both volume and value in the quarter. That said, the pace of contraction has moderated compared to last year. Relative to this challenging industry context, we began the year positively, underpinned by our resilient performance.

To provide a more accurate view of our underlying business, it is important to look at results, excluding the b:oost brand. On the basis, we delivered volume growth of 6.1% in the quarter, supported by our tequila portfolio, which grew 7%. According to [ NISCAN ] data through February, our performance in Mexico continues to outpace the industry. While total spirits industry volume declined 3.2%, our portfolio declined 1.3%. In value terms, we declined 3% against an industry decline of 6.3%. Within the tequila, while the category declined 0.8% in volume, we outperformed, delivering slight growth of 0.1%.

In value terms for the category, we declined 1.8% against an industry decline of 5.4%. These results underscore the continued strength of our portfolio and our undisputed leadership position in Mexico. During the quarter, product mix shifted slightly towards the value segment as our lower-end brands offer consumers a compelling value proposition. Importantly, this does not reflect downtrading as the higher-end segment continued to grow, although at a more moderate pace.

Additionally, the exit of [ foods ], which carried a dilutive price per case is contributing to an importance in the overall mix of our portfolio. From a pricing standpoint, while some peers have taken a more aggressive promotional approach, we have maintained our position as pricing leaders. As a result, our focus remains on execution and market share rather than pricing. Overall, despite a difficult environment, we remain confident in our ability to continue gaining share and strengthening our leadership position across Mexico and the broader region.

I will now turn the call over to Shane Hoyne. Thank you.

Thank you, Olga, and good morning, everyone. The first quarter of 2026 marked the third consecutive quarter of growth for the EMEA and APAC region. This reflects the underlying strength of our brands and what remains a relatively flat market environment. We are seeing a recovery in Asia following the market volatility experienced in 2025, while performance across EMEA remains supported by steady demand.

That said, certain markets, particularly in the Middle East, are still experiencing some instability, and it remains to be seen how this will evolve over the remainder of the year. Both shipments and depletions increased versus the prior year. Shipments grew 15%, while depletions increased 8.4%. While there can be periods where shipments and depletions move at different paces, these dynamics tend to balance out over the course of the year.

Inventory levels across the region are beginning to normalize following the fluctuations observed through 2025 as external factors impacted distributor behavior. However, pricing conditions remain relatively competitive -- sorry, highly competitive, and we expect this to remain a consistent theme across markets as we move into through 2026. From a category perspective, our tequila portfolio continues to gain momentum across the region, supported by growing consumer interest and a deeper understanding of the category.

As mentioned in the previous call, we are increasingly seeing tequila gaining share from Other Spirits, reinforcing its position across the spirits landscape. Overall, while the EMEA and APAC region remains exposed to a complex and evolving environment, Becle is delivering resilient performance and category fundamentals continue to support long-term growth. As we look ahead to the remainder of 2026, we remain confident in the opportunity for tequila to drive both volume and value expansion across the region. Our portfolio strength and established route-to-market strategy position us well to capture these opportunities.

I will now pass you over to Rodrigo, who will take you through the financial results.

Thank you, Shane, and good morning, everyone. I will now walk you through the financial results for the first quarter of 2026. The company reported a 23.1% decrease in consolidated net sales, reaching MXN 7.4 billion. This decline reflects foreign currency effects from the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar. On a constant currency basis, our top line decreased by 13.5% for the quarter, in line with the shipments volume decline influenced by the distributor transition in the U.S.

Gross profit decreased by 29.7% in the first quarter to MXN 3.9 billion, while gross margin decreased from 57.8% in the first quarter of '25 to 52.8% in the first quarter of 2026. The decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by foreign currency effects related to the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar as well as an adverse regional mix. This was partially offset by an improved product mix and a stable agave input cost. On a constant currency basis, gross margin would have been 56.1% for the quarter.

AMP expenses declined 24.9%, closing the quarter at 20.4% as a percentage of sales, aligned with our full year AMP guidance for 2026. Distribution expenses decreased by 15.1%, while SG&A expenses increased 2.6%, reflecting continued discipline on overhead and strong cost control across the organization.

Despite these efficiencies, our EBITDA for the first quarter declined 52.5% with EBITDA margin contracting 860 basis points to 13.9%. Adjusting for FX, EBITDA margin would have been 16.7%. First quarter consolidated net income decreased 66.5% to MXN 390 million with the net margin at 5.3% compared to 12.1% in the first quarter of last year. Earnings per share were MXN 0.11 compared to MXN 0.34 (sic) [ MXN 0.32 ] for the first quarter of 2025.

As of March 31, 2026, cash and cash equivalents totaled MXN 11.2 billion, while total debt was MXN 19.2 billion, a decrease of MXN 7.5 billion compared to the prior year. In the first 3 months of 2026, the company generated MXN 2.4 billion in net cash from operating activities, primarily reflecting working capital discipline. Our balance sheet remains very strong with adjusted net leverage of 1x, in line with our target range of 1 to 1.5x.

We remain confident in our long-term free cash flow generation and maintain flexibility to deploy capital effectively. In this context, we will propose a cash dividend payment and an extension of our share repurchase program at today's General Shareholders' Meeting. Finally, we are confirming our 2026 guidance of low single-digit consolidated net sales value decline on a constant currency basis.

I will now turn the call back to the operator for the questions and answer session. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Nadine Sarwat. Please state your company name and ask your question.

This is Nadine Sarwat from Bernstein. I have 2, please, both on the U.S. The first, when it comes to the very big gap we saw in Q1 in the U.S. between shipments and depletions, can you help us understand how much of that gap was due to, a, the distributor transition versus b, the action to reduce inventories in the system more broadly? That's my first question. And then the second, how should we think about U.S. shipments versus depletion in Q2?

Thank you, Nadine. This is Mauricio. So let me -- I'll take the first one in terms of the -- how much is what. So even though it's very difficult to really point or pinpoint the exact numbers, what I can tell you is that a big part of the -- of that gap on shipments is driven by the destocking. If we look at our last year, a lot of the highest inventory levels we had were in RNDC markets. So as we're transitioning, we're making sure that in addition to focusing on the right execution, we are resetting the right levels of inventory in the new distributors.

To give you a little bit more color, as I mentioned during the script, the performance in non-transition markets, the decline in those non-transition markets, it's around 5% compared to the industry that is declining at -- if you look at C-stores, 6% to 7%. So I think that when you look at our non-transition markets, we're actually performing better than the industry, which tells you that a big expectation in our depletions is definitely driven by the transition markets, which takes me to link to your second question.

The destocking, because it's a significant amount, it will continue into Q2. Now what I can also say, which is what I'm looking at the initial numbers of April is our Q2 depletions will definitely show an improvement versus Q1. So the way I'm looking at the year is that every quarter, from a depletions perspective, we're going to start seeing a significant improvement as we stabilize the transition. Now in terms of the destocking, that will continue again through the rest of the maybe Q1, Q2, and we will stabilize both things as we get into the second half of the year.

Our next question comes from the line of Froylan Mendez. Please state your company name and ask your question.

This is Froylan Mendez from JPMorgan. A question in the U.S., too. If -- can you just explain to us, Mauricio, a little bit how does these transition markets are working? And what are the risks that if you are not able to supply the different channels because of this transition that the -- let's say, the underperformance versus peers is exacerbated in the next quarters? Because probably you are not putting inventory into the different channels because of this transition, other brands are doing it. So is there a risk that even when the transition is completed, you are a little bit behind and the destocking process takes a little bit longer because your product was in a certain way, replaced by other brands that were able to supply the channels or you were under this transition? That's my first question.

And second, on the comments regarding the stable input costs overall that you mentioned on the gross margin. What does that mean? Does that mean that there is no benefit from lower agave prices into your cost base already this year? Or what do you mean by stable input costs?

So I'll take the first one, Froylan. Thank you for your question. I think it's a very relevant one. So what I want to be very clear is since this transition was planned with significant time before we announced, we made sure that we built inventory in the new distributors to avoid any supply disruption.

So we are having absolutely none supply disruption in our customers from the transition because of the way it was managed in making sure that we have enough inventory and new distributors before executing the transition. That's one.

The other one, just to provide very strong confidence on your concern actually not manifesting in the marketplace, we see actually the opposite, because if I take a market like Florida, where RNDC had around 20% share of the market, breakthrough has over 40% of the market. So actually, we're -- what my expectation is that our coverage in the trade will significantly increase the presence of our portfolio in retail and the on-premise versus our previous distributors.

So one of the reasons that was driving the decisions we made in which distributors to choose in every market were distributors that actually have a stronger presence than our legacy partners. So actually, I see the opposite. I see this as an opportunity versus a risk because since we are not having any supply chain issues, we're not having any out of stocks, we're not having disruption in the supply, we are going to see over the next few months an increase in our coverage and distribution versus historical levels. So that's why the way we've been positioned is, even though there's short-term disruption, I see an upside for our business as we stabilize the transition.

Very clear. And on the input cost.

Yes. How are you, Froylan? The comment I made on -- in regards to stable input cost basically relates to the fact that we see market prices on agave being stable, and we have no expectations of significant changes to the current situation or the situation we've had in the last couple of quarters. That's basically the comment. There's nothing more to that.

So the benefit of lower agave prices basically was already seen or already impacting results last year. So now if they are stable versus 2025, you don't see an incremental impact, but you did benefit last year from that and not so much this year since they are, let's say, sequentially stable. Is that the right way to think about it?

The right way to think about it is we have continued to benefit from lower agave spot prices in the proportion we do leverage that part of the market, and we expect no changes going forward.

Our next question comes from the line of Henrique Morello. Please state your company name and ask your question.

This is Henrique Morello from Morgan Stanley, filling up for Ricardo Alves today. We have 2 quick ones on the margin side here. So the first one on the gross margin. We understand that most of the impact was from the FX, right? And by the way, thank you for the breakdown that in the release is very helpful. But on the other side that we understand that that's the underlying performance, right, the minus 170 basis points of underlying decline in the gross margin.

So you -- if you could just give a little bit more detail on the main drivers behind of that underlying decline? For instance, how much was lower prices or maybe operational leverage, something like that? And how should we think about that ex FX performance of gross margins for the rest of the year as well would be very helpful? And the second question on the SG&A front. So given the current tougher industry environment in the U.S., industry-wide decline in sales, so picking of your [ brands ], if you expect any eventual SG&A downsizing, perhaps efficiencies in production capacity optimization, adjustments to logistics or headcount or something like that? Or if you see any other low-hanging fruits on the SG&A side that could help boost your margins going forward in the coming quarters as well? So those are the questions.

Of course, thank you for both questions. Regarding the gross margin, out of the 500 basis points, and this was commented already, 330 basis points was driven by simply FX, unfavorable FX. The rest, the other 170 points (sic) [ basis points ], it's actually a result of unfavorable price mix and importantly, geographical mix as the U.S. performance underweights the -- what normally it does, right?

So there's not much more to comment in that regard. It's a matter of unfavorable mix is what explains the rest. Regarding your second question, we continue -- on a continuous basis, we look for opportunities to improve cost reduction and efficiencies, and we will continue to do that. Obviously, our numbers are affected right now due to operating deleverage that impacts all P&L line items, which have implicitly fixed expenses and costs. So yes, I mean, we continue to focus on driving productivity across the value chain. We have been doing that, and we will continue to do that as part of our ongoing strategy.

Thank you. That is all the time we have for questions. So that concludes the call. Thank you. You may now disconnect.

Good morning, and thank you for joining Becle'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 our use of terms and phrases such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend 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 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.

Before we begin, we 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 in the Mexican Stock Exchange. The information for the fourth quarter of 2025 is preliminary and is provided with the understanding that once financial statements are available, updated information will be shared in the appropriate electronic formats. [Operator Instructions].

Now I will pass the call on to Becle's CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckmann.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today as we discuss Becle's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 results. 2025 was a year of navigating challenges across our key markets. However, we defended or expanded our leadership position in Tequila across our main regions, protected pricing better than the industry average by leveraging our strong brand equity, and delivered solid financial performance supported by the decisive actions and disciplined execution. We are proactively assessing market conditions to reinforce our strong foundation for sustained long term growth.

At the same time, it is important to put the current environment into perspective. Spirits continue to take share from other alcoholic beverages, underscoring the structural strength of the segment. Within that context, Tequila continues to outperform other full-strength spirits categories with solid price mix growth, and premiumization trends remaining intact, favoring our core strengths.

Cautious of shifting consumption trends, we believe the current slowdown is mostly cyclical, driven by macroeconomic headwinds and inflationary pressures. Historically, the spirits industry has experienced periods of expansion and contraction, and we expect demand to recover as consumers' confidence improves.

In the U.S. and Canada, we are implementing changes to better capture both portfolio and route-to-market opportunities. We recently announced a full realignment of our U.S. distribution network with the transition beginning on February 1. In Mexico, we continue to advance premiumization, strengthening our on-premise capabilities and sharpen marketing through innovation.

Even in a cautious demand environment, we remain confident in our ability to defend our market leadership and compete effectively. In Rest of the World, we are focusing on our core brands and strengthening our premium portfolio. We continue to execute with discipline as we navigate evolving consumer behavior and macro conditions, and we continue to capture a relevant position in strategic growth markets in the region.

2025 evidenced an unusually complex global spirits sector likely to remain in 2026. However, we've consistently shown that we can drive competitive advantage through uncertain times by focusing on what matters most, the strength of our brands, the discipline of our strategy and the quality of our people.

We are entering 2026 with a healthy mix of realism and optimism as we anticipate that the years ahead will continue to require bold adjustments to position us better for 2027 and beyond. Thank you. And with that, I'll turn it over to Mauricio to discuss our U.S. and Canada results.

Thank you, Juan, and good morning, everyone. Our fourth quarter performance in the U.S. and Canada region reflected a combination of continued industry-wide headwinds and delivered commercial actions taken to position the business for long-term success. As full-strength spirits demand decelerated through the back of the half year, we remain focused on the areas firmly within our control: execution, disciplined pricing, targeting investment behind our brands and a thoughtful management of shipments and inventory across the system.

U.S. spirits trends deteriorated sequentially in 2025, with a slowdown, particularly evident to our year-end. Against this backdrop, tequila continues to stand out as the most resilient full-strength spirits category, delivering volume growth of 2.3% in the year, according to Nielsen data. While growth in the broader spirits market has skewed towards prepared cocktails, tequila has transitioned from a high-growth phase to a more normalized stabilization phase. It remains an attractive category and continues to outperform other spirits. Within this environment, our own portfolio continues to outperform the market, excluding prepared cocktails.

[indiscernible] data for the 3-month period ending in November shows that Proximo continued to outperform the broader industry in value growth within full-strength spirits and more specifically within the tequila category. Nielsen data for 2025 further supports this performance showing that Proximo's volume declined 2.5%, outperforming the overall market by approximately 100 basis points.

Pricing discipline remains a defining feature of our approach in the quarter. As demand moderated, competitive behavior intensified with the overall tequila category experiencing a price decline of approximately 9.2%. By contract, our average pricing decline was limited to 5.1%.

While this discipline can create short-term volume pressure, we believe avoiding aggressive discounting is critical to protecting long-term brand equity and margin integrity, particularly in an environment where several competitors have leaned more heavily into aggressive pricing actions. At the same time, we continue to invest behind our brands. Our advertising and marketing investment as a percentage of sales remains above peer levels. Reflecting our conviction and sustained brand support is essentially in peers of category softness. These investments are tightly focused on expanding points of distribution, opening new on-premise accounts and improving in-store performance.

From a category standpoint, strengthening our leadership position in Tequila continues to be our top priority. At the same time, RTDs represent one of the most attractive growth opportunities where we are currently underrepresented. During the second half of 2025, we increased our focus and investment behind RTDs and delivered solid double-digit growth. To further accelerate performance in this segment, we are building a stronger innovation pipeline and evaluating route-to-market alternatives that enhance coverage and execution.

Turning to shipments and inventory. We took deliberate actions during the quarter to ensure healthy alignment across the system. In response to the broader slowdown in consumer takeaway, we adopted a measured approach to shipments with the aim of avoiding further inventory build. This resulted in shipments declining more sharply than depletions on a quarterly basis. Our inventory levels vary significantly across distributors with our highest level sitting in what were RNDC markets. We will actively be working on balancing inventory levels as part of the transition into our new distributors during the first half of 2026.

In the quarter, retailers continue to reduce inventory to historically low levels. And in turn, distributors also actively work to reduce their own inventory levels. In addition, we had already anticipated our planned exit from RNDC, well ahead of the formal announcement, and we made a conscious decision to moderate shipments into RNDC during the end of the year to facilitate a smoother transition and mitigate disruption at the time of execution.

As previously announced, we have recently completed a comprehensive review of our route-to-market strategy across the United States. As a result of this evaluation and while we value the relationships and history we've built with RNDC, we decided to transition our distribution away from them in all current markets, except for Georgia and New Mexico, effective February 1, 2026. This decision reflects our performance first mindset, aligning our brand with partners who demonstrate strong execution, focus on accountability. And while these transitions may introduce some near-term volatility, particularly in the first half of the year, we believe this change will significantly strengthen our commercial foundation and position us to compete more effectively in an increasingly dynamic U.S. marketplace.

Looking beyond current market cycles, the long-term fundamentals of the U.S. spirits market remains strong. We believe tequila is positioned to be the industry's main growth category over the next decade, a trend that directly benefits Proximo as a category leader. We continue to see durable consumer appetite for premiumization and authenticity, reinforcing our confidence in the long-term trajectory of the business.

I will now turn the call over to Olga Limon to discuss Mexico and the Latin America results.

Thank you, Mauricio, and good morning, everyone. Moving to our performance in Mexico. I would like to frame our 2025 results within the context of the broader industry landscape. While the spirits industry remained in contraction, it is important to highlight that the pace of decline moderated meaningfully compared to 2024. Within this context, Tequila continues to prove its status as a clear outperformer. Our brands not only held their ground, but consistently gained market share across both Tequila category and Total Spirits.

According to [ NisCom ] data through November, our performance in Mexico clearly outpaced the industry. While Total Spirits volume declined 1.4%, our portfolio delivered a 2.5% volume increase. In value terms, we grew 2.0% against an industry decline of 1.6%. The Tequila category specifically remains a growth engine. While the category grew 2.5% in volume, we outperformed with 3.9% growth. These results underscore the continued strength of our portfolio and our undisputed leadership position in our home market.

When evaluating our performance, it is essential to look beyond the quarterly volatility and focus on a full year trajectory. Additionally, moving forward to provide a more accurate reflection of our underlying business, it is important to look at results, excluding the b:oost brand.

On a full year basis and excluding our b:oost brand, Mexico delivered a 1% volume growth, broadly in line with depletions. We which decreased 1% versus the previous year. While our fourth quarter volumes decreased by 10.3%, depletions declined 7.1%. These figures follow an exceptionally strong third quarter where depletions grew by 5.2%. We evaluated -- when evaluated on a second half basis, shipments increased 0.5%, while depletions decreased by 2.5%. It is also important to note that we are lapping a particularly strong fourth quarter seen in 2024, which created a high bar for comparison.

In response to softer depletions observed late this year, we intentionally moderated shipments to ensure that we close 2025 with healthy inventory levels across the system. This disciplined approach to inventory management provides us with a clean runway as we enter 2026. Throughout the year, our shipments and depletions remain well aligned confirming that the underlying consumer demand for our brands remains robust.

Looking at the global picture, Mexico continues to be one of the best performing regions for Tequila and for the company as a whole. Overall, our leadership in Tequila and our ability to gain share in a challenging market gives us great confidence. By prioritizing disciplined execution and protecting the long-term health of our equity, we believe we are well positioned to continue building value in Mexico and across the region.

I will now turn the call over to Shane Hoyne, Managing Director of EMEA and APAC region.

Thank you, Olga, and good morning, everyone. In the fourth quarter of '25, the region sustained its positive momentum with both shipments and depletions growing. APAC continued to deliver double-digit depletions growth while EMEA recorded positive depletions compared to the same period last year. For the full year '25 shipments in the EMEA and APAC region were flat versus '24, while depletions increased by 1.5%, reflecting continued underlying demand despite a challenging trade environment.

Inventory remained a key factor throughout the year. Particularly in the first half, elevated inventory levels across the broader industry impacted shipment patterns as distributors and retailers focused on reducing working capital and operating with lower inventory levels. These dynamics were evident across multiple markets and remained a consistent theme over the course of the year.

Pricing conditions in '25 remained highly competitive with aggressive discounting across money markets as peers sought to defend volumes. While pricing pressure remains elevated, discounting activity appears to have largely stabilized.

From a category standpoint, Tequila is gaining momentum across the region, driven by growing consumer interest and a deeper understanding of the category. And increasingly, tequila expanding into new occasions positioning itself as a more sophisticated option for cocktails and early evening parties. We also see tequila switch consumers from traditional brand spirits such as cognac and whiskey with many entering directly into the aged tequila segment, reinforcing the category's long-term premiumization opportunity.

Overall, while the region is operating in a complex and uncertain environment, Becle continues to perform resiliently and underlying category dynamics remain constructive. Looking ahead to '26, we remain optimistic with Tequila offering significant long-term volume and value growth potential across multiple markets. Our portfolio strength and established route-to-market strategy position us well to capitalize on these trends. I'll now hand you over to Rodrigo, who will take you through the financial results.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I will now walk you through the financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025. In the fourth quarter, the company reported consolidated net sales of MXN 11.1 billion, reflecting a 14% decline year-over-year and an 8.4% decline on an FX adjusted basis. This and other reported results were negatively impacted by the appreciation of the Mexican peso in Q4.

Operationally, results were impacted by deliberate inventory rebalancing actions in the U.S., mainly due to a softer demand environment into the year-end. Our price/mix increased 0.4%, reflecting our ability to sustain pricing even under extreme competitive environment, leveraging our brand equity and portfolio. However, this was more than offset by 5.7 points of unfavorable currency translation. This quarter marks our eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year gross margin expansion, a significant achievement given an unfavorable regional mix and the appreciation of the Mexican peso, which represented a significant drag on margins.

We continue to benefit from lower agave-related input costs and ongoing cost efficiencies from strategic sourcing and manufacturing operations, resulting in a gross margin of 55.2%, an expansion of 110 basis points versus a year ago.

While net sales remained under pressure, we maintained investment behind our brands to protect long-term equity and ensure we are well positioned for a better time. We have done so while remaining highly selective and focused on investment efficiency.

Turning to operating expenses. Distribution costs declined 6.5% and SG&A expenses decreased 6.2%, reflecting continued discipline on overheads and strong cost control across the organization. Other income increased by MXN 438 million during the quarter, primarily driven by anticipated contractual settlements related to U.S. distribution agreements. As a result, EBITDA for the fourth quarter was flat year-on-year, with EBITDA margin expanding 340 basis points to 24.4%.

Net income for the quarter was MXN 1.4 billion, benefiting from MXN 148 million year-over-year foreign exchange gain as the appreciation of the Mexican peso positively impacted our net U.S. dollar debt exposure. This benefit was partially offset by a retroactive full year effective tax rate increase to 27%, which was recorded in the fourth quarter.

As of December 31, 2025, cash and cash equivalents totaled MXN 10.8 billion, while total debt was MXN 18.9 billion, a decrease of MXN 7.4 billion compared to the prior year. In 2025, the company generated MXN 8.1 billion in net cash from operating activities driven primarily by the setup in underlying operating profit and continued working capital and CapEx discipline.

Our balance sheet remains very strong with adjusted net leverage of 0.9x, slightly below our targeted range of 1 to 1.5x. We remain confident in our long-term free cash flow generation and have ample balance sheet capacity to execute our capital allocation agenda, which prioritizes reinvesting in the business and returning capital to shareholders.

Before moving to guidance, I want to take a step back and highlight the progress we have made over the past several years. Using 2019 as a pre-Covid reference point, net revenues are up 45%, driven by 10% volume growth and a 35% increase in average price per case. This reflects the significant premiumization of our portfolio with average price per case growing at a 5% CAGR since 2019.

Importantly, our Rest of the World business has doubled in size since 2019 in net sales value, reinforcing that tequila remains a high-growth category with substantial long-term potential, particularly in markets where penetration remains low.

Gross profit has grown at a 7.5% CAGR since 2019 and gross margin is now 320 basis points above 2019 levels. At the same time, marketing expenses as a percentage of net sales have declined by 90 basis points versus 2019 while consolidated net sales value has grown at a 6.4% CAGR, reflecting a more efficient and disciplined investment approach. Importantly, these improvements were not driven by foreign exchange movements as the average effects in 2019 was broadly the same as in 2025.

From a working capital standpoint, we have improved our cash conversion cycle. Total inventory days are back to 2019 levels, even though we have significantly premiumized our portfolio since then. Payables have improved from 36 days to 56 days and receivables have shortened from 110 days to 100 days as of year-end 2025. CapEx has also declined both in absolute terms and as a percentage of net sales from 6.9% to 3.4%. We have continued to deliver consistent dividends and free cash flow has strengthened, improving from a 4% free cash flow yield in 2019 to 14% at the end of '25.

When you look at our performance over the past 6 years, the company has evolved into a more mature and resilient business, one that has strengthened its ability to premiumize consistently, invest efficiently, improve cash conversion and capital return to shareholders through a sustainable and disciplined financial model.

Finally, moving on to 2026 guidance. This will be a transition year for our business as we execute the previously announced realignment of our U.S. distribution network. Changes of this scale take time to fully stabilize and may create temporary disruptions, shipment volatility, inventory realignment and added complexity. Our priority is to start this new partnerships the right way by maintaining clear communication, aligning closely on execution standards and managing inventories carefully to avoid unnecessary stock build.

At the same time, we expect the broader operating environment in 2026 to remain challenging with limited visibility given macroeconomic volatility and continued consumer uncertainty. Considering these factors, we expect net sales value to decline in the low single-digit range in 2026 on a constant currency basis. Additionally, we expect A&P as a percentage of NSV to be in the range of 19% to 21% and our capital expenditures to be in the range of $90 million to $110 million.

We are not providing specific guidance on operating income, particularly as we will be lapping nonrecurring gains recorded in 2025 related to the sale of b:oost and distributor contractual settlements. While we recognize the near-term complexity, we believe the actions we are taking are necessary to build a more effective commercial platform positioning us for improved performance in 2027 and beyond.

I will now turn the call back to the operator for questions-and-answer session.

[Operator Instructions]

Our first question comes from the line of Lucas Mussi.

I have one on margin performance this quarter. Gross margin was up about 100 bps year-over-year. And as you mentioned, Rodrigo, on your remarks, it was still heavily impacted by FX dynamics in the quarter, geographical mix. So I wanted to see if you could share more details on the drivers behind the quarter. That would be my first question. So how much could we think about as it pertains to agave contributing to your margin on a year-over-year basis? How much came from headwinds related to FX? So any color on that front would be welcomed.

And my second question still on margin is how to think about 2026 from your main drivers, mainly raw material related. As we think about agave, how you're thinking about the spot price in the market today? Has it been stable throughout the year? Do you see -- do you still see more downside to market prices? So any color on how you're thinking about your raw materials into 2026 would also be very helpful?

Thank you, Lucas, for the question. From a gross margin perspective, which was your focus, what I can share is that foreign exchange was a drag in terms of our ability to expand further by 170 basis points. So pretty much all components of gross margin equation worked favorably, the most important driver being the agave input costs which continue to be favorable to us, plus the productivity initiatives that I did mention on my script. So other than FX, the gross margin expansion could have been 280 basis points in the quarter.

And looking forward, at this point in time, we don't expect major changes to this environment. Obviously, we rely on volatility from FX, which could continue to play a role.

Our next question comes from the line of Nadine Sarwat.

This is Nadine Sarwat from Bernstein. Two questions from me. The first on your guidance, you talked about this being a transition year to set up your business for the future. So related to that, can you unpack that transition that you referred to? How much of that is a weak macro versus deliberate strategy. And then if we look beyond 2026, are you expecting to return to solid growth?

And then just one additional shorter-term question. In the Nielsen data over the last couple of weeks, we've been seeing an underlying improvement in the U.S. spirits market. Are you seeing that in your business? And if so, what do you think is behind that?

So thank you, Nadine. On your first question, I think the way we see it in -- why we mentioned this is a transition year is mostly related to the realignment of distributor network in the U.S. It's mostly that where we expect conditions in terms of macro, et cetera, to remain challenging. Having said that, I'll pass it along to Mauricio to take you through the transition and expectations for 2026 and beyond.

Nadine, it's Mauricio. From a transition perspective, I would make reference to the distributor changes we're making. So I do believe those changes, even though I have stated during the script will cause short-term disruption, they are definitely setting us for sustainable growth in the future. We are aligning with what we believe are the best distributors in each of the states. So as we go through that transition in H1, I think as we go into the second half of the year and especially into 2027, that should actually be reflected in improved performance in a sustainable way for the future.

Regarding your question on share, we do see it. What I would say is if you could see the second semester of the year in the U.S., tequila started to decelerate even further. One of the things we have remained extremely disciplined is in managing prices. If you look at our average price has decreased a lot less than our competitors, and we continue to invest behind our brands ahead of industry benchmarks.

So I think the combination of 3 things: very disciplined focus on execution, driving investment behind our brands and being able to balance pricing through promotional activity to stay competitive while still not being as aggressive to undermine long-term rapid equity, I think those things combined is what is actually driving our improvement in share in the short term.

Got it. And just to clarify on that medium term looking past 2026, potential to return to growth. I appreciate everything you said on the distributor transitions and distractions this year. But just thinking longer term, you had that slide up that showed your historical growth. So trying to get a sense of what investors can expect after the transition?

So look, from the U.S. perspective, leaving aside the transition in terms of distributors, I think what we will continue to do in 2026 and beyond, we'll continue to invest behind the brands to be perfectly positioned to capture growth as the category returns into growth. We do expect that in 2026, the category will continue to see compression. And what we want to do is make sure we're setting all the fundamentals in place in terms of route-to-market, brand health investment and being very strategic on pricing to actually start capturing, I would say, or disproportionate growth of the industry as it returns into growth, which I do believe we should start to expect happening in 2027.

Our next question comes from the line of Rodrigo Alcantara.

I guess the first one would be -- it's Rodrigo Alcantara at UBS. The first one would be follow-up on the RNDC transition in the U.S. We get this transition period, right? But any rough estimate or any number you can give us in terms of how much volume we're talking about that could be impacted just as a way of trying to quantify this transition period. That would be my first question.

And the other one, if we could reflect a bit on the performance in Mexico, right? I mean you gave the figures there from a sell-in perspective, right? Just judging looking at performance of beer in Mexico in 4Q, it was not that -- the contraction was not as high, right, as what we saw today. So I mean, if you can help me here, understand, reconciliate the difference in the magnitude of contraction of other categories like beer versus the one we saw at spirits in Mexico? Those will be my 2 questions.

Thank you, Rodrigo. On the first question you had in terms of the RNDC transition, I think providing a number would be very difficult to really estimate what the impact from a number perspective would be. All these transitions really have a very short-term impact, that we will manage. We have a PMO -- very disciplined PMO office in place to try to minimize the disruption. We did see, as I mentioned in my script, that because of this lower depletion, especially in RNDC markets at the end of the year, that's where our highest level of inventories were. So we will be working as part of this transition to rebalance that as we go to the new distributors.

So that, combined with a very volatile environment in an industry that continues to actually experiment contraction, it's very difficult to understand or predict what volume impact will be from the transition, industry contraction and competitive dynamics. So for now, what we're focused on is executing this transition in the most disciplined way, making sure that -- and actually, we feel very confident that we have the right distributor in each market. In each of the new distributors, we are, if not the biggest, one of the biggest suppliers there that will guarantee more focus and attention behind our portfolio that gives a lot of confidence that once that transition is behind us, we should start to see improved performance.

Rodrigo, this is Olga. From the Mexico part, regarding the 7.1% decline in Mexico depletions this quarter, I would like to reinforce that we are seeing an improvement in consumer trends. In fact, the industry remains -- while the industry remains in contraction, the pace of decline has moderated significantly compared to 2024. And we continue to gain market share within this context.

But I would like to talk about 2 factors that bridge the gap between the minus 7% and the reality of our business. There are 2 specific factors that accounted for nearly the entire decline. As we finalize the exit of the b:oost brand, we focused on clearing remaining inventory rather than commercial prioritization. These brands decline alone created a 200 basis point drag on our total Mexico depletions.

The second factor is that we are being disciplined in not engaging in value-destroying activities. We intentionally chose not to participate in specific [indiscernible] promotions where we felt discounting in depth compromised our brand equity. This disciplined approach to price integrity impacted our quarterly depletions by almost 500 basis points. So when you strip away these 2 tactical factors, we are effectively flat. So basically, that would be my answer.

That's a good point. So just to clarify, excluding the -- I mean, not participating in [indiscernible] had this 500 basis points impact. Did I get that correct?

Yes, that's correct, Rodrigo.

Our next question comes from the line of Antonio Hernandez.

This is Antonio Hernandez from Actinver. Just wanted to get a sense on nonalcoholic beverages and others that are also declining. Are these following similar trends, a competitive environment? How are you seeing there? And maybe you could provide an outlook on those? And if there are any organic or inorganic opportunities there?

Sorry, Antonio, thank you for your question. If I understood correctly, you're talking about nonalcoholic beverages and how they may be...

Exactly. Yes, how they performed this last quarter and throughout the year underperforming as well and your expectations going forward?

Antonio, this is Brian. So that's probably related to the b:oost brand. That was a significant impact for us in the quarter, and that's within the nonalcoholic beverages part that we report in the press release. That's a big portion of it. So it's probably related to that.

Okay. And going forward, do you expect more stable, of course, excluding that comp from the b:oost brand?

Yes, we do.

Our next question comes from the line of Froylan Mendez.

Froylan Mendez from JPMorgan. On the gross margin effect during the quarter and going forward, I read the transcript from 1 year ago, and we were speaking about positive effect from agave. 2025, you also have positive effect from agave. So it's 1 year with positive effects from agave. Should we assume that the positive impact from lower agave in 2026 should be much lower than what we have seen in the past 2 years given just the lapping of the benefit now that your inventory probably reflects a much lower average cost of agave. That's my first question.

And secondly, can you provide with some directional color on your top line guidance if it is coming from volume drops similar to last year, but with better pricing or the other way around. And within the different regions, which one are the ones growing a little bit better than the other? Which one is dragging? How you created that guidance of low single-digit drop for next year, please?

Thank you, Froylan, for those questions. Regarding your first on gross margin, yes, in fact, we -- since last year, second -- last quarter of last year, we reported benefits on agave. As you see, overall, agave cost continues to benefit result this year. Excluding FX, as I mentioned, it was a significant contributor to positive gross margin expansion.

We don't provide specific guidance on this topic. However, what I can say is that a lot of the -- let's say, extra benefit we've had this year and in particularly Q4, is related to simply higher agave sugar content on agave. And we expect that, that trend should continue going forward. So there is no changes necessarily expected there on agave cost from the market.

And regarding your second question on top line guidance, the guidance, it's a combination, of course, in terms of volume, price mix, et cetera. So the guidance is general. We would like to stick with that guidance as it is because considering the volatility in the environment, we continuously manage those levers to deliver on the low single-digit decline that we announced.

And sorry, my ignorance, but the low -- the higher agave sugar content, does that mean that, I don't know, the crop that you are having from agave, it contains higher sugar and so it will remain -- like you have an inventory with high efficiency for the next year? So how does that work? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question. Just to understand.

Yes, no problem, Froylan. I think what's important to say is that market conditions on agave should remain similar. Internally, we do expect some further pressure on agave cost. As we balance the equation out, we have some, let's say, extraordinary, let's say, benefits this year that may not be replicable next year. So we should not expect, let's say, improvement over this year necessarily. But this is obviously something we manage on a day-to-day basis, and we expect to deliver the best possible results given that the market conditions will be similar.

Our next question comes from the line of Nicolas Rodrigues.

Nicolas Rodrigues from Citibank. My first question is regarding GLP-1. As the adoption continues to expand across key markets such as U.S., have you observed any change in consumption behavior, particularly in tequila. And my second question is about GLP-1 -- not GLP-1, about development in Jalisco. Could you comment how and if these events have any impact on Cuervo operations?

Thank you, Nicolas. It's Mauricio. And I'll take a question on GLP-1. Look, it is very difficult, almost impossible to estimate what an impact on tequila is on GLP-1. We do see evolving consumer trends. I think there's a lot of different things happening in the market at the moment that consumers are looking for different alternatives. We see the emergence of RTD, we see changes in patterns of consumption. So attributing any sort of impact to GLP-1 becomes, I would say, almost impossible. So it's something that we do monitor closely, but at this point, attributing any impact to that is really difficult.

Regarding the incidents in Jalisco, as of today, we have not seen any impact in our operations, and we don't foresee that happening. .

[Operator Instructions]

We have not received any further questions at this point. So that concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.

Good morning, and thank you for joining Becle's Third 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 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 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.

Before we begin, we 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 in the Mexican Stock Exchange. The information for the third quarter of 2025 is preliminary and is provided with the understanding that once financial statements are available, updated information will be shared in appropriate electronic formats.

[Operator Instructions] Now I will pass the call on to Becle's CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckmann.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today as we discuss Becle's third quarter 2025 results. In a challenging environment, we continue to strengthen our position in key markets, supported by the consistent execution of our strategic initiatives and the strength of our brand portfolio.

Consolidated volumes increased by 3.7%, mainly driven by a 5.2% growth in our spirits portfolio. In the U.S. and Canada, Tequila remained the main growth driver, and we continue to protect long-term brand equity while prioritizing premiumization.

In Mexico, our core categories continue to gain momentum, and we consistently outperformed the market, gaining share across most segments. Finally, EMEA and APAC delivered double-digit growth, supported by strong execution and healthy inventory levels.

On profitability, our gross margin expanded by 300 basis points, reaching 56.1%, mainly reflecting our lower input costs and operating efficiencies. Additionally, EBITDA for the quarter reached MXN 3.5 billion, marking a 63.3% increase year-over-year.

As we approach year-end, our priority remains balancing shipments and depletions while continuing to execute our premiumization strategy across all regions. I'm confident in our ability to close the year strongly and position ourselves for sustained growth in 2026.

Thank you. With that, I'll turn it over to Mauricio Vergara to discuss our U.S. and Canada results.

Thank you, Juan, and good morning, everyone. Please note that [indiscernible].

During the third quarter, the U.S. and Canada region continued to face a complex and highly competitive market environment, characterized by persistent pricing pressures, cautious consumer spending and evolving category dynamics. Despite these challenges, our team remained focused on disciplined execution.

Net sales value declined 10.3% compared to the same period of last year, reflecting a 6.4% decrease in shipments and a 4.4% decline in depletions. This result was mainly driven by continued softness in our Ready-to-Serve portfolio and retail boycotts in Canada, which resulted in approximately 120,000 cases in lower shipments.

Encouragingly, our full-strength spirits portfolio outperformed the region's overall trend, led by stronger performance in high-end tequilas, which continue to drive premiumization across our mix.

In terms of consumer takeaway, our performance was in line with the overall market. According to Nielsen 13-week data through September 27, our spirits portfolio, excluding prepared cocktails, declined 3.5% compared to a 3.4% decrease of the total industry. Meanwhile, C-stores, which provides one of the most comprehensive views of the industry performance, shows that Proximo outperformed the broader industry within full-strength spirits, including the Tequila category, over the 3-month period ending in August.

Our prepared cocktails portfolio continued to weigh on consolidated shipments, largely due to softness in our large-format Ready-to-Serve offerings. But in contrast, our ready-to-drink cans gained momentum versus the first half of the year, signaling a positive turnaround as we align our portfolio with evolving consumer dynamics.

Within Tequila, we continue to observe intensified industry-wide pricing competition. Average tequila pricing in the market declined 7.9% versus last year as leading competitors implemented material negative price adjustments. In this environment, we have remained disciplined, focused on selective strategic promotions while maintaining an overall responsible pricing approach.

Notably, small format offerings of our super-premium and ultra-premium brands continue to outperform, underscoring that consumers are seeking high-quality products while managing their spending. Our strategy to strengthen the on-premise continues to deliver results. On-premise shipments outpaced the off-premise, driven by initiatives that enhance brand visibility and consumer reach.

Looking ahead, we anticipate improving long-term fundamentals in the U.S. spirits market, particularly within our focus categories. Premiumization continues to drive growth in Tequila, where demand for authentic high-quality brands remain robust.

I will now turn the call over to Olga Limon to discuss the results for Mexico and Latin America.

Thank you, Mauricio, and good morning, everyone. In a challenging industry landscape, Mexico posted solid third quarter results. Even with constrained consumer demand, we outperformed in our key categories and continue to improve our leadership position.

Net sales value increased 24.3% in the quarter, primarily driven by an increase in volume. This was further supported by a favorable product and channel mix as high-end Tequila outperformed the rest of the portfolio.

Shipments in the quarter increased 18.3% year-over-year, driven by market share gains and an easy comparison against last year. As you recall, 2024 was a typical year marked by strong industry destocking. Compared to the third quarter of 2023, shipments grew 1%, demonstrating that we have returned to premarket contraction shipment levels, and we have done so with a normalized inventory position. Overall, inventory levels remain healthy and well balanced across channels as we head into the year-end.

Our brands continue to gain market share in Mexico, reinforcing our leadership in both Tequila category and the broader spirits industry. According to [ Nielsen ], we grew in value 3.4% year-to-date compared to flat performance for the overall industry, while our volume rose 3.4% versus a 1.1% industry decline. These results underscore the strength and consumer appeal of our brands in the Mexican market.

During the quarter, we took a strategic step to further optimize our portfolio with the sale of Boost, reinforcing our commitment to focus on our core spirits business. The fourth quarter of 2025 will serve as a transition period, during which we will continue to operate the brand in close collaboration with the buyer to ensure business continuity.

As of January 1, 2026, Boost will no longer be consolidated in our financial statements. For reference, in 2024, Boost sold 938,000 9-liter cases, representing 3.7% of our consolidated volume and therefore, will impact our volume comparables in 2026.

In Latin America, performance was strong, with shipments and net sales both increasing. We also achieved a double-digit increase in net sales value per case, reflecting the successful execution of our premiumization strategy. Despite persistent macroeconomic uncertainty, underlying trends continue to improve across the region, and we remain focused on disciplined pricing, protecting profitability and reinforcing our leadership position.

I will now turn the call over to Shane Hoyne, Managing Director of the EMEA and APAC region. Thank you.

Thank you, Olga, and good morning, everyone. During the third quarter, we operated in a volatile trading environment influenced by macroeconomic uncertainty, aggressive competitive pricing and continued cost-of-living pressures. These factors led distributors to manage inventories cautiously.

Even in this context, our premium spirits portfolio delivered solid results, driven by robust growth in super premium tequilas across key Asian markets and emerging EMEA countries.

Shipments in EMEA and APAC increased 11% in the quarter. Asia remained a key growth engine, achieving double-digit growth in both shipments and depletions. Tequila remained our primary growth driver across the region with shipments up 20% year-over-year and super-premium tequila shipments accelerating 38%. These results demonstrate the strength of our premiumization strategy and the growing global appeal of our brands.

Looking ahead, the fourth quarter will be a pivotal trading period. Through effective commercial execution and agile decision-making, we expect to maintain momentum in the EMEA and APAC region, backed by the strength of our portfolio and our disciplined focus on premiumization. We believe we are well positioned to deliver sustainable growth across the region.

I will now hand over to Rodrigo, who will take you through the financial results.

Thank you, Shane, and good morning, everyone. I will now walk you through the financial results for the third quarter of 2025.

The company reported a 3.7% increase in volume, driven primarily by a 5.2% growth in our spirits portfolio, marking our first quarter of volume recovery since Q1 '23. Consolidated net sales were flat at MXN 10.9 billion, reflecting the continued impact of price normalization, geographic mix dynamics and unfavorable FX.

This quarter marks our seventh consecutive period of year-over-year gross margin expansion, a significant achievement despite unfavorable regional mix and despite the appreciation of the Mexican peso, which represented a modest drag on margins. Despite these headwinds, we continue to benefit from lower agave-related input costs and ongoing cost efficiencies from strategic sourcing and manufacturing operations, resulting on a gross margin of 56.1%, an expansion of 300 basis points.

A&P expenses declined year-over-year, reflecting our focus on strategic brand prioritization and disciplined resource allocation amid moderate demand. SG&A expenses also decreased as a percentage of sales as productivity gains and tighter cost controls more than offset inflationary pressures.

EBITDA increased 63.3% year-over-year to MXN 3.5 billion, while the EBITDA margin expanded to 31.7%. This increase reflects both strong organic performance across the business and inorganic contributions.

Turning to the financial results. We recorded a favorable swing of MXN 3 billion in the quarter, primarily driven by a MXN 2.5 billion gain from asset divestitures as well as MXN 188 million year-over-year foreign exchange gain, as the appreciation of the Mexican peso positively impacted our net U.S. dollar debt exposure. As a result, net income grew at triple-digit rate year-over-year, reaching MXN 4.1 billion.

From a cash flow perspective, the company generated MXN 3.3 billion in net cash from operating activities, primarily reflecting strong profitability. Our cash balance increased MXN 5.1 billion relative to the end of the second quarter, mainly due to proceeds from the portfolio optimization activities.

Our capital allocation approach remains consistent and disciplined. Every decision aims to support long-term value creation and sustainable growth. Our top priority continues to be investing in organic growth through brand prioritization, targeted A&P spending, innovation and R&D to ensure the continued strength and resilience of our portfolio.

At the same time, we remain disciplined in managing our portfolio, acting decisively when brands no longer fit our strategic direction. The recent divestment of the Boost brand is a clear example of this, an action aligned with our ongoing efforts to sharpen our portfolio and exit noncore assets.

Looking ahead, we will continue to explore value-creating investment opportunities, being mindful that our portfolio is unique and any acquisitions must be both strategic and accretive to the business.

The following chart shows how our company is delivering on CapEx efficiency. The business is generating more EBITDA while requiring less CapEx to do so, demonstrating the success of our efficiency initiatives and our progress towards a more asset-light value-accretive operating model.

Finally, our lease adjusted net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improved to 1.0x from 1.7x in the previous quarter, underscoring the strength of our balance sheet and our capacity to create long-term value. Overall, the step-up in underlying operating profit was the main driver behind a 160 basis points increase in ROIC compared to the same period last year.

With that, I will now turn the call back to the operator for the questions-and-answer session. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Ricardo Alves.

Ricardo Alves from Morgan Stanley. Impressive numbers. I had a couple of questions on the main positive surprise to us came on the gross margin, the 56% number in the third quarter, certainly very impressive.

Is it possible to go a little deeper or to quantify any agave impact or raw materials in general that boosted your margin for the third quarter? Any color that you could share? Even if qualitative, in terms of how you're cycling the inventory of raw materials in the portfolio that you're selling today, that would be helpful.

We've been talking about going back to that 60% gross margin or so for many years now, and it seems that we are approaching that. So any qualitative or if you're able to quantify in a way how you're cycling through the inventory of agave finished products? I think it would be helpful for us to have a better idea of how your profitability could shape up in 2026. That would be my first question.

The second question, really impressive numbers in Mexico and Rest of the World. So I think that we have less concerns there. But I think that the U.S., I believe that one of the comments that you made is that the competition remains tougher in that market. So I wanted to focus on that market.

We noticed that your unit revenue on a U.S. dollar terms was down, I believe, 5% in U.S. dollar. And we also assume that your product mix continues to improve in the U.S. So that would imply that there seems to be some discount activity on the spirits category.

I just want to pick your brains on that to see if indeed, you're still seeing your competitors more aggressive in pricing. And if there is a light at the end of the tunnel here, maybe things are looking better as we go into the fourth quarter and shipments and depletions could be more aligned. So just trying to see if we are closer to a stabilization of the U.S. market.

Thank you, Ricardo. This is Rodrigo. I will take the first question.

In fact, yes, we're satisfied with the progress on gross margin. So far, we continue to cycle all the inventory, as you correctly mentioned. And I want to highlight that most of the benefit on gross margin is coming actually from agave-related input, everything that happens there in terms of the agave, the yields and also the manufacturing efficiencies that have been implemented through manufacturing investments. And so the main driver is that.

On the contrary, we have, at least in this quarter, an unfavorable Mexico peso impact, driven by the appreciation of the peso, also mix -- unfavorable mix dynamics overall, given the U.S. results as a percentage of the total portfolio, plus, as you mentioned, the heightened promotional activity resulting in a lower price per case. Overall, that's what's driving the gross margin, which stands at 56%, which is quite positive.

On your second question, Ricardo, this is Mauricio. You're right. The market continues to be extremely competitive. If you look at total Tequila, the overall pricing is down by almost 8%. So what we -- the approach we have had has been to actually indeed have some targeted promotional activity to remain competitive and protect our share in the marketplace, but without chasing competition.

So our focus continues to be protecting our competitive position in the marketplace whilst protecting the brand equity for the long term. So we will refrain from chasing competition on the downside. We need to remain competitive, but our focus is really long-term equity growth in what I think will continue to be for the next year or so, a very competitive market environment.

That's helpful, Mauricio. Do you see any early indications that maybe the market is going to become more rational anytime soon? Or maybe the trends that we saw in the third quarter did remain the same into the fourth quarter?

Look, based on what we're looking at all the data sources and for me, the most comprehensive one is [ DeepSource ], what we're seeing is a projection of next year of the market of our potentially continue to decline at a rate of 4.5%.

So with that projection of the market, I would expect the market to remain extremely competitive as everyone will be focused on share. So I don't see the current dynamics changing at least for the next 18 months.

Our next question comes from the line of Nadine Sarwat.

This is Nadine Sarwat from Bernstein. Two for me, please. First, sticking to the U.S. on RTDs, I know that continues to be the main drag. It's been the case for quite some time. Although I believe in your prepared remarks, you did call out better momentum as you've adjusted your strategy.

Could you please flash that out, what is this current strategy when it comes to the subsegment over the coming quarters? And what are you expecting the performance to be there?

And then a second question, I appreciate the clarification of calling out Mexico shipments versus 2023. Could you just confirm or clarify that depletion number for Mexico so that we ensure we get the full picture?

Thank you, Nadine. So in terms of your first question, this is Mauricio, on the U.S. RTDs, as I mentioned during the call, what continues to be a drag on our performance in [ RTS ], so which is the large formats, and that -- if you look at the marketplace, that continues to trend down as consumers are shifting to cans or RTDs. So when we talk about RTDs, we're talking mainly about cans.

So what we are doing is changing and adjusting our portfolio with a lot of focus in RTDs, both in terms of execution format configuration, driving increased penetration across different channels. And we saw actually a big shift in the last quarter. We're showing growth of around 30% versus last year in our cans.

So as we go forward, we will continue to drive not only execution, but also you would see innovation coming from us in that space, which is just pretty much adapting our portfolio to the evolving consumer needs.

As for the Mexico question, as we have already talked about, we had an easier comparable base in terms of shipments in the third quarter. So it's more meaningful to look at the year-to-date performance. In the year-to-date performance, where shipments are and depletions are broadly in line, we are up 4.7% year-to-date in shipments versus 2.5%, respectively, in depletions. So I hope that answer your question.

Perfect. And then could you just remind us your split for -- of your RTD segment? I guess, how much is that large format versus RTS versus the cans, now that you've been implementing these changes?

So still from a mix perspective, we still hold a large part of our mix in RTS, but our focus will then to continue to increase the mix now on RTD. So for now, our mix continues to be larger on RTS. We feel that the market will continue to evolve within the cans. And therefore, you would see in the future, our mix of RTDs/cans continue to increase relative to the large format.

Our next question comes from the line of Froylan Mendez.

Froylan Mendez from JPMorgan. A couple of questions. First, on a follow-up on the gross margin. Just trying to understand how sustainable is this margin gain from agave? Because if we look back in the previous quarters, it has been very volatile, let's say, the margin dynamic into the third quarter, I would have expected more of a headwind from FX, which was clearly offset by the agave.

But is there any reason why the fourth quarter shouldn't be at least this 300 basis points gross margin expansion if similar volume conditions remain into the quarter? Or what are we missing to understand the gross margin dynamics into the fourth quarter into 2026?

And secondly, into Mexico, I mean, it's very impressive to see the performance, given the weak economic backdrop in general in Mexico. Do you see any difference in the consumer behavior in Mexico versus what we see in the U.S. in terms of consumption per capita? Or what is driving this recovery in volumes in Mexico? Those two questions.

Thank you, Froylan. I'll take the first question regarding the gross margin expectation.

We will be facing a much more unfavorable situation from an FX perspective in the short term. Q4 comparable relative to last Q4 is going to be unfavorable as exchange rate was 20.1% on average.

Other than FX, which could impact negatively the gross margin in Q4, we don't see any meaningful trend, changes regarding cost components. So besides that, that's the only impact that we, at this point, would be concerned about.

As for Mexico, we continue to see a volatile and challenging market environment and a very cautious consumer. We continue to see a contraction, but the good news is contraction at a slower rate. And also the good news is Tequila remains one of the few categories that is growing, and we are actually outperforming the industry within it. So that's what I can tell you.

If I may just follow up, Rodrigo. So can I understand that the inventory that you are passing through the P&L is now at, let's say, a much lower cost versus what we have been seeing in most of the first half of 2025 and second half of 2024, so we are facing a real advantage on the cost side on agave from this point onwards?

Yes. I think that sounds right, Froylan.

Our next question comes from the line of Antonio Hernandez.

This is Antonio from Actinver. Just wanted to see if you can provide more color on the lower A&P expenses as a percentage of sales, if this at all, maybe this is impacting maybe sales performance? And in which regions are you mostly lowering this expense? And what are your expectations going forward?

Of course, Antonio. I'll take the question first. So A&P investment as a percentage of NSV is simply reflecting the more, let's say, some efforts in terms of efficiency on how we spend the A&P. But definitely, that's not a driver that we perceive is impacting top line performance in any of the regions.

Okay. And these efficiencies are all over the place, I mean, in all the regions?

Yes.

Our next question comes from the line of Ben Theurer.

This is Ben Theurer from Barclays. So I wanted to just understand a little bit and ask if there's more something in the pipeline. I mean, you've been divesting some of these like smaller noncore things. We've seen the Boost divestment. We have the Lalo brand this quarter. And we've seen this in the past by kind of like this review of the portfolio.

So I just wanted to understand, as you look at the current portfolio in different regions, et cetera, specifically considering some of the softness also in RTD in the U.S., are there other things that you would consider as an asset for sale or like kind of like a noncore to kind of like really be able to focus and concentrate on the key things within Tequila, other tequilas and those other spirits that have been driving growth and have been doing better?

Yes. We -- this is Juan Domingo. Yes, we are continuing analyzing our portfolio and -- to see which brands should we invest more and which less and which brands so we can dispose. So yes, probably there will be more.

Okay. And then I have one follow-up. Just as we look into the dynamics of spending on A&P over the last couple of quarters, it's clearly been, I would say, on the softer side. So as you look ahead, do you think this is a new level and new balance? Or as volume picks up and some of the momentum comes back up as we think into 2026 that you're probably going to be as well a little more on the upper end of what your usual guidance is for A&P?

So this is Mauricio. So for the U.S., what we've been working on is a very disciplined approach to return on investment, making sure that we're understanding more and more what are the activities that are actually having the best impact in the marketplace.

We continue to spend ahead of industry standards. So I think that we're actually in a very healthy level of spend, and our focus is more on understanding where can we put the dollars that will have the maximum return so we can drive efficiencies without compromising our -- how we compete in the marketplace.

We have not received any further questions at this point. That concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.