Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Grupo Herdez's 4th quarter 2025 earnings conference call. This call is being recorded. Information discussed may include forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties. Please refer to the forward-looking statements disclaimer in the company's press release. I'll now turn the call over to Andrea Amozurrutia, Chief Financial and Sustainability Officer. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Since we're in the middle of the strategic corporate restructuring and the transition in our executive leadership roles, we have invited Gerardo to this call, so we will lead this call jointly today. Please be confident that the transition is being smooth and that our financial discipline will keep up to speed. I'll now hand the floor over to Gerardo.
Thank you, Andrea. Despite the slower consumption environment we have, an outstanding fourth quarter as inventories across our customers regain optimal levels on a sequential basis, coupled with favorable comps. This helped us achieve a record year as net sales topped MXN 37 billion, a 5% increase on a pro forma basis, and a consolidated net income of MXN 4.1 billion, representing a robust 16.9% growth. From a shareholder standpoint, the value creation in the last six years has been threefold. Finally, Project NEO, our new ERP, remains on track for its April go-live. We will experience a typical behavior during the first half of 2026 due to this transition. To ensure zero supply interruptions, we have designed a strategy involving an advancement of inventories during the first quarter, generating a temporarily sales spike followed by moderation in the second quarter.
We expect operating flow to fully normalize starting in the third quarter. Due to the natural course of this project, it will be in 2027 that we will start seeing the deceleration of ERP-related SG&A and the efficiencies of this better technology. I will now hand the call over to Andrea to discuss 2025 financial execution and 2026 outlook.
Thank you, Gerardo. My key highlight of 2025 was our ability to protect margins despite significant investment. We achieved a full-year gross margin of 39.3%, a 90 basis points improvement, which successfully offset SG&A pressures from Project NEO with COGS efficiencies driven by our procurement strategy and the strength of the Mexican peso. Our brands demonstrated high resilience in a complex domestic environment. We successfully expanded our market share in core categories, including mayo, vegetables, and mole, consistently outperforming category averages. Also consistent with industry trends, we observed a tactical shift in the tomato product category. As fresh tomato prices reached deflationary levels due to domestic oversupply, some consumer segments temporarily shifted toward the fresh commodity. This also, we took advantage of it, and we leveraged the same oversupply to optimize our input costs. Regarding our international footprint, MegaMex operated also in a very complex U.S. environment.
Despite volume pressures, by prioritizing efficiency over volume, MegaMex achieved an extraordinary 45% growth in annual net income. I a m proud to report that we surpassed our water consumption reduction targets tied to the KPIs of our 2022 local bond issuance, and we are on track to surpass our 2030 commitments. Starting this year, we are adopting the new IFRS S1 and S2 accounting standards, ensuring our ESG performance is reported in connection with our financial results. Looking ahead, the $ 700 million proceeds from the McCormick divestiture provided us with a highly robust capital position. We have defined a clear three-pillar strategy for the allocation of these funds. First, the leverage. We will prioritize the strength of our balance sheet by paying down approximately MXN 4 billion in debt throughout this year. Second, shareholder return.
We will propose to the ordinary shareholders' meeting an extraordinary dividend of MXN 15 per share. Third, strategic growth. We will maintain a cash reserve to capitalize on inorganic growth opportunities that align with our core strengths. In terms of reporting, starting this year, we will reflect our 25% stake in McCormick de México on their equity in results of associates. As well, we will recognize visible service fees from the commercialization, distribution, and services provided to McCormick. As a result of all these changes, majority net income will become a relevant financial metric since it will capture the proportional profitability of the group. Please consider that our 2026 results will include significant accounting one-offs. We will recognize extraordinary income from the sale of the 25% stake alongside the fair value recognition of our remaining interest.
For a better understanding of our performance, at least at the operating level, Grupo Herdez recommends that the investment community utilizes proportional EBITDA as the primary valuation metric. This approach proportionately integrates 25% of the results from MegaMex and McCormick, along with the strategic and service income, reflecting the company's actual stake in operating cash flow. We conclude 2025 with the confidence of having laid a solid foundation. 2026 will be the year to capitalize on every strategic decision made during this period. With that, we are now happy to take your questions.
We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question is from Alvaro Garcia with BTG. Please go ahead.
Hello, Andrea. How are you? Hi, thanks for the space for questions. Congrats on the transactions, the announcement on the dividend. I was wondering if you could give a bit more color on how you plan on paying down this MXN 4 billion in debt, just from a timeline standpoint. Where do you feel comfortable for the new resulting entity? Where do you feel comfortable on a net debt-to-EBITDA basis for the long term, and how do you measure that? I'll stop there for now.
Thank you, Alvaro. Well, in terms of the leverage during this year, we will actually go with the calendar of the debt for this year. We have paid a significant portion already in the first quarter, and the MXN 1.5 billion coming from the local bond will be, like, the latest in the year. It's according to the actual amortization calendar that we had. I would say that it is starting in 2027 that we will face the challenge of matching actual cash flows to the amortizations going forward because all of the debt starting in 2027 will be coming from the long-term issuances. We will visit that during the second quarter of this year and start the refinancing plan as soon as possible.
Cool. Then, yeah, and how you're thinking about, I guess, debt rating agencies and yourself, so how you're thinking about net debt- to- EBITDA, considering you get a pretty chunky dividend from McCormick de México, and how to think about, yeah, leverage long-term for the new co, on the net debt- to- EBITDA basis, or maybe net debt-to-EBITDA plus dividends from McCormick, and what levels you think are sort of appropriate longer term?
Well, one of the key priorities with the new structure is to free as much cash flow as we can, because we know that the cash flow will change going forward. At this point and with no major restructurings on our debt, we feel comfortable with a ratio between 2x and 3x . The commitment is to the leverage as soon as possible. It is very clear this year how we will do that MXN 4 billion deleverage, but it is going forward that we will have to restructure accordingly.
Yeah, super clear. I guess one last one on how should we expect to or will you report McCormick de México results kind of like we get it from MegaMex? Or I guess what color will we get from McCormick de México going forward, from a financial standpoint?
Yeah. Unfortunately, at this time we don't have. We are working with the auditors to determine which detail we will have to release from this joint venture. If you give us some time, we will have it obviously clearer once we approach the end of the first quarter.
Well, I'll get back in the queue here. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Alvaro.
Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. The next question is from Regina Carrillo with GBM. Please go ahead.
Hello, Andrea, Gerardo. Congratulations on the results. I wanted to ask about 2026 guidance. Can you give us a little bit more color on what the assumptions are by business, and also if you can, if you have a similar guidance for majority of EBITDA, you know, if you have any idea how much MegaMex and McCormick would grow, that would be really useful. Thanks so much.
Thank you, Regina. At this point, let's say that since we are working with the auditors in terms of how the information will be presented with a new consolidation structure, it is clear that the 7%-9% range of sales growth that we guided considers, like, half growth coming from volume and the other half from tactical price increases. In terms of the EBITDA, let's say that on a pro forma basis, we are expecting, like, a similar margin to what we registered in 2025. It is the consolidation that can move the numbers. If you consider, like, apples to apples, we are expecting a stable margin performance.
Perfect. Thank you so much.
What we offer is that, since or while we approach to the close of the first quarter, we can get with all of you, the analyst community, in order to work on your models. We make sure that we all have the same numbers there and you have the correct information to base your valuation calculation.
That would be super useful. Thank you so much, Andrea.
You're welcome.
This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Andrea Amozurrutia for closing remarks.
Thank you very much to all of you for getting into the call. Let's stay in touch because of all the changes that the financials will have. Any doubts, please feel free to contact us. We hope you have a great day. Thank you very much.
The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.