Becle SAB de CV
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Becle SAB de CV
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Good morning, everyone, 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 the use of terms and phrases such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, predict, project, will, goals, target, strategy and similar terms and phrases and may include references to assumptions.
Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our 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. For all the foregoing reasons, you are cautioned against relying on such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Now I would like to welcome Fernando Suárez, the Chief Financial Officer. Fernando, you are now online. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss the unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, of Becle, commercially known as Jose Cuervo. We are joined today by Juan Domingo Beckmann, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and the rest of the senior management team.
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 on the Mexican Stock Exchange. This information for the second quarter of 2022 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, and thank you for joining us today as we discuss Becle's second quarter 2022 results. Our regions posted solid numbers and our portfolio proved once more to be resilient against several headwinds, such as the recent number surge of COVID cases, especially affecting the EMEA and APAC regions and supply chain issues, mostly related to glass. Despite these challenges, our brands continue to gain favor with the consumers, allowing us to build on previous quarter's momentum. We have also managed to take price in our portfolio across all regions year-to-date.
Moving on to the overall results for the quarter. Total volume and net sales value grew by 11.4% and 18.9% year-over-year, respectively. We'll continue to prioritize our tequila portfolio and are encouraged by the outlook for the category and our leading market position to take advantage of this trend. The U.S. and Canada region has continued to post strong on-premise results, thanks to higher demand in bars and restaurants. In addition, our premiumization strategy has paid off as product mix in the region favored tequila once again, while ultra-premium brands posted double-digit growth. However, challenges specific to the region include industry-wide supply chain impacts, inflationary pressures on specific inputs and a competitive market in the RTD segment.
The results for Mexico and LatAm for the quarter were very positive, driven in part by strong on-premise sales as most restrictions were lifted, and by our tequila portfolio, which was prioritized in the face of supply chain constraints. Looking to the EMEA and APAC regions, strong results were also driven by brand brought on-premise channel reopening in most countries. The continued growth of demand for tequila, helped by the execution of our premiumization strategy throughout the region. Given the still challenging macro and operating environment this quarter, we are very pleased with our results. We continue to see high growth trends for the premium tequila category and are enthusiastic about our ability to further capitalize on this trend and grow our market share in our regions.
I will now turn the call over to Luis Felix to discuss our U.S. and Canada results in detail.
Thank you, Juan, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased to share our commercial performance in the United States and Canada for the second quarter and the first half of 2022. For the second quarter of 2022, net sales value was up 0.2% over the previous year quarter despite a 7.6% shipment volume contraction.
In the first half of 2022, net sales value was up 4.9%, also despite the shipment volume contraction of 5.4%. Our net sales gain in the year-to-date period demonstrated the continued execution and positive impact of our premiumization strategy, which accounted for 90% of the NSV gains as well as the effect of the May 2022 price increase in most of our SKUs within our full strength portfolio, which accounted for about 10% of the gains.
Our tequila portfolio was up for the quarter with all of our brands posting growth. Our super premium tequila brands grew 13% for the quarter. For the year-to-date period, our tequila posted a 9% growth with our super premium offerings growing 15%. For both the 13- and 26-week period ended June 18, 2022. our tequila portfolio growth outpaced the category volume growth of 0.9% and 2.8%, respectively, as measured by Nielsen in the off-premise. We are very pleased with the performance of our tequila portfolio and excited with the reception of Gran Coramino tequila, which was launched in May within the ultra-premium tequila segment, and in the Cristalino subsegment, which is the fastest-growing subsegment in Nielsen. This addition to our portfolio reaffirms our leadership position within the Cristalino subsegment of the tequila across our ultra-premium offerings.
Shipment volumes for the quarter were down 7.6% over the prior year, with declines mainly concentrated in our ready-to-drink margarita and non-alcoholic margarita mix offerings, but also reflecting supply chain disruptions on our full strength spirits, which limited our ability to fulfill all the demand for our products.
For the year-to-date period, shipments were down 5.4%. The decline was driven almost exclusively by ready-to-drink margarita and non-alcoholic margarita mix offerings which were down 18% and are facing difficult conditions due to the proposed reopening of the on-premise channel and the highly competitive and dynamic prepared cocktail category.
Our tequila portfolio grew it's shipment volumes by 7.5%. We have worked diligently -- delightly to mitigate industry-wide supply chain impacts, which had led to significant improvements to our network in the first half of the year. So we'll continue with this effort to ensure that we can fulfill the growing demand for our products.
Excluding the performance of our prepared cocktail portfolio, our Nielsen takeaway for the 13- and 26-week periods and then ending June 18, 2022, were down 1.3% and 2.1%, respectively, on volume; and 3.1% and 1.7%, respectively on value. This compares to an industry volume growth of 0.5% for the 13-week period and a contraction of 0.3% for the 26-week period, with value contraction of 1.9% and 1.2% for the same period.
Proximo's wholesaler depletions were down 2% for the quarter, and our year-to-date depletions were also down 2%. In both periods, we posted growth in our full strength spirits portfolio, which was offset by the losses of our ready-to-drink margarita and non-alcoholic margarita mixed portfolios. Our whiskey portfolio posted 6% growth during the quarter and 2% growth for the year-to-date period.
It also outperformed the whiskey category contraction of 4.3%, as measured by Nielsen in the off-premise for both 13- and 26-week periods ended June 18, 2022. During the second quarter, our ready-to-drink margarita, non-alcoholic margarita mix portfolios contracted by 10% and 15%, respectively, and also for the year-to-date period by 13% and 9%, respectively. As discussed previously, these offerings are lapping significant growth in the previous year and have slowed given the on-premise reopening as well as the volatility and increasingly competitive environment in the category, which increased the can options and new agave wine introductions.
Moving on to our marketing activities. We continue to support our portfolio with strong AMP spend during the second quarter and the first half of 2022. AMP spend throughout 2022 was higher as a percentage of NSV versus 2021 as we took advantage of strategic opportunities for our super and ultra-premium tequila brands and supported our growing whiskey portfolio. The tequila category continues to gain share and premiumize within the U.S. and Canada. And while it has slowed in its growth relative to previous period, it remains one of the best performing categories in the spirits industry.
We remain committed to investing in our brands, and we consider this to be our biggest opportunity and our most important strategic objective.
I will now turn the call over to Olga Limon to discuss the Mexico and Latin American results.
Thank you, Luis. Good morning, everyone. Once again, Mexico and LatAm posted strong results for the quarter helped by a continued recovery in the on-premise sales, healthy inventory levels and solid depletions. While we faced inflationary pressures and supply chain constraints on specific inputs, we were largely able to work around that. Sales and margins were helped by our continued focus on premiumization, which benefited the more profitable brands in the region. In Mexico, volume increased 45% year-over-year with net sales increasing an outstanding 64.4% for the same period. These increases were driven by our focus on prioritizing tequila and net supply challenges with all tequila segment growing compared to the same period of last year. Overall, the tequila portfolio in Mexico reported a double-digit growth year-over-year.
For the quarter in Mexico, we did not raise prices for any brand or category. However, the price increase we took in March was well received by the market. And based on this quarter's inventory depletion levels, demand remained unaffected. LatAm also reported an impressive quarter as market across the region continued to reopen and restrictions were lifted. Volume and net sales more than doubled year-over-year. In April, we took price in some LatAm countries in response to inflationary pressures across the region. However, our increases were in line with the industry wide pricing actions.
We did not see related negative effects in depletions. Colombia and Peru were the main drivers of growth in LatAm this quarter, with tequila fueling their success. We continue to post good results in the region despite the supply challenge with tequila and mezcal leading the way. We are optimistic that this favorable growth trends will continue due to our portfolio of strong brands, our efficient execution of the premiumization strategy and well-established supply chain.
I will now turn the call over to Gordon Dron, Managing Director of our EMEA and APAC region. Thank you, Gordon.
Many thanks, Olga, and good afternoon to everybody from Europe. The positive momentum has continued through the second quarter of 2022 across both EMEA and APAC regions. EMEA has continued to accelerate as consumers actively return to bars and restaurants. Our business has been boosted by the early summer weather which has brought consumers out on roads. Restrictions surrounding COVID have been lifted around EMEA, and this has aided in exceptionally strong recovery in GTR in both EMEA and the U.S. where we have seen passenger numbers returning to near 2019 levels and cruise operators reporting record bookings for 2022 and 2023 and operating their full fleets once again.
Recovery in Asia has been hampered by the ongoing COVID controls in Japan and China in particular. The on-premise has been largely closed in these 2 markets through most of Q2. That said, our other markets in APAC have been reopening strongly. And just as we previously experienced in EMEA and in all markets are restocking in anticipation of a surge in demand as the markets continue to reopen.
The fallout from the Russia and Ukraine war, which represents less than 1% of group sales, is now impacting consumer spending power in the region as oil, gas and electricity inflation hits people directly in their energy bills. Consumer inflation has driven to over 8% across the EU and significantly higher in some markets like the U.K. and Spain. And while there is no evidence of the slowdown in the sales of premium drinks as yet, some markets are reporting a slowdown in the overall sales since May.
Price increases have been necessary this year to offset the increase in COGS, and these have been completed during the second quarter. The total EMEA, APAC shipments grew by 62% in the second quarter of 2022 versus 2021, and EMEA, APAC recorded an 86% growth and EMEA a 53% growth in this period. The performance for H1 shows our business growing by 55% versus the same period in 2021.
Tequila shipments growth continued to accelerate, more than doubling versus the second quarter of 2021, with net sales growing at about the same rate. All our tequila brands have performed strongly, but the premium tequila brands and mezcal have shown exceptionally strong growth as we extend distribution and focus on our premiumization and refreshment strategy.
Net sales growth is running a little ahead of shipments. And while depletions growth is 50% lower, this should be expected as the distributors and the trade restock. Our whiskey and rum brands have also performed solidly during 2022, however, are more orientated towards the off-trade, which, a year ago, was largely the only channel open. In EMEA, Irish whiskey shipments are up by double digits versus last year, with net sales running further ahead as we continue to drive our premiumization strategy.
Meanwhile, in APAC, our [ Irish whiskey ] sales grew by over 70%, with net sales slightly behind as this was being impacted by the slowdown of China. Our rum portfolio continues to perform well, showing strong double-digit growth and value growth in both EMEA and APAC. Our owned route to markets continue to perform strongly. All our in-market companies, with the exception of China, which is down due to the heavy -- current heavy COVID mobility restrictions, are performing very well, with high double-digit growth across the portfolio.
Overall, our business is performing -- outperforming our peers in the key markets, particularly in tequila, but also increasing value in whiskey and strong growth in rum, which is very pleasing as we enter the second half, knowing we are well equipped to take advantage of the opportunities if they arise.
I will now pass you over to Fernando Suárez, who will take you through the financial results.
Thank you. Let me walk you through the second quarter financial results in specific. The company reported an 18.9% increase in consolidated net sales to MXN 11.3 billion. This increase reflects a product mix skewed towards brands with higher sales per case and year-over-year price increases. During the second quarter, gross profit increased 17.1% to MXN 5.9 billion, while gross margin decreased to 52.4% from 53.2% year-over-year. This gross margin decrease was primarily due to unfavorable geographic mix and, to a lesser degree, higher non-agave related input costs, partially offset by price increases across regions and a steady organic market pricing environment. The U.S. and Canada region have the highest segment contribution to the consolidated gross margin and was a region which reported flat net sales year-over-year.
Quarter-over-quarter AMP expenses as a percentage of net sales were similar on a pro forma basis, posting 20.4% compared to 20.8% in the second quarter of 2021. This decrease reflects the changes in the planned timing of AMP spend relative to the prior year period. Distribution expenses increased 12.8% to MXN 520 million, mainly driven by an acceleration in sales volume and increased logistics and carrier costs. As a percentage of net sales, distribution expenses decreased to 4.6% from 4.8% in 2021.
SG&A expenses increased 16.3% year-over-year, representing 8.2% of net sales compared to 8.4% in the second quarter of 2021. This was primarily driven by firm cost control measures. Operating income increased 48.8%, while operating margin increased to 18.8% from 15% in the second quarter of 2021. EBITDA increased 43.7% quarter-over-quarter to MXN 2.3 billion, with an EBITDA margin of 20.7%.
Net financial results for the quarter were a loss of MXN 142 million, mainly derived from higher net interest expenses versus the same period of the prior year. Consolidated net income increased 58% to MXN 1.4 billion, and net margin was 12.4% compared to 9.4% in the second quarter of 2021.
Earnings per share were MXN 0.39 for the quarter. As of June 30, cash and cash equivalents were MXN 9.1 billion, and total debt was MXN 18.1 billion. We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet with conservative financial leverage and ample liquidity to execute our long-term growth strategy.
As announced in the company's capital allocation program during the Annual General Ordinary Shareholders Meeting held on April 29, our cash dividend payment will be made on August 4 for the amount of MXN 0.42051 for each outstanding share representing Becle's capital stock. Regarding guidance, we confirm our full year consolidated volume growth estimate in the mid-single digits. Our full year CapEx guidance, we expect to be in a range between $225 million and $275 million. I will now turn the call back over to the operator for questions and answers. Thank you.
[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Andrea Teixeira from JPMorgan.
This is Drew Levine on for Andrea. So first, I just wanted to ask about the maintained volume guidance of mid-single digits after running 11.4% up year-to-date, implied second half volume is roughly flat despite some easier comparisons. So curious if you're seeing something that's making you a little bit more cautious or conservative on the second half here?
Let me start, and then I'll pass it on to Luis Felix. But yes, Peter, we are confirming our full year guidance of mid-single-digit. And that implies that the U.S. will have resuming growth in the second half of the year. And we expect the regions, Mexico and Rest of World to also continue with strong growth. But I'll hand it over to Luis to be more specific on the U.S.
Thank you, Fernando. In the U.S., what we're seeing is that we -- I think we're very well positioned for in our tequila and the full spirit. We may suffer still in the RTDs and the mix segments since the category has evolved and the consumption patterns have changed. Remember, we enjoyed a lot of the -- during the pandemic for the in-house consumption. So that has changed and that probably will continue for the second semester. So -- but we believe that we are very well positioned and the results that we are seeing in our tequila business should be positive in the second semester.
Great. And then Luis Félix, I also wanted to just ask about the consumer environment in the U.S. maybe you've seen any signs of pullback in spending in alcohol, maybe a trade down from super and ultra-premium tequilas at this point or any shift back to the off-premise form the on-premise? Or how you're thinking about that looking into the second half?
Yes. We -- what we're seeing in the tequila category, we're seeing a small slowdown in the trend in the very positive trend that the tequila category had in the past. But however, still is the fastest-growing category in the industry. We don't see still a trend for trade down. Remember that the degree will depend on the severity of the economic downturn. The average spirits drinking American households spends about $360. So we believe that there might be some other things where people will start sacrificing before spirits. So I think we're very well positioned with our products in our price points. And we have a very small share in the ultra and the lux tequila segment. So if there's a turn down, I think we're very well positioned there.
Perfect. And then, Fernando, I just wanted to ask on the gross margin for the quarter, obviously, had some unfavorable geographic mix. But as we look ahead with the commentary that the U.S., I mean, I guess you're expecting some growth here in the second half. So should we think about some nice gross margin expansion in the second half or some other puts and takes that we should be thinking about as we're modeling?
Drew, thank you for the question. We're just limiting our guidance to volume growth, so cannot give any guidance specifically on quarter-over-quarter margin expansion or deterioration. But to your question, in particular, on the trends, we already commented that we're sticking to our mid-single-digit guidance, and that implies that the U.S. should be able to resume part of the growth in the second semester as Luis and myself explained.
Our next question comes from Mr. Felipe Ucros from Scotiabank.
A couple on my end. Maybe first on your experience in prior downturns and the last 1 was probably 2007 and '08, and Brown is really helpful to provide us with some data on this. some similarities in that downturn, right, commodity surging central banks increasing rates and obviously the possibility of a recession. So just wondering Juan Domingo, what was the experience like during those times when the company was still private? How did the categories do? And how do the consumer behave in relation to the spirits that you have in your portfolio? And then after that, I'll ask a second question.
Remember, I mean, at that time 2007, '08, I don't remember exactly the data, but the category was much smaller. There were fewer players. So I mean, yes, there was some moving down, let's say, from that time the $25 price points to $20, and then going back to the $15. But at that time, we weren't -- I mean, the category one is growing a lot, but not as much as now, but it was growing. So we didn't see a big impact to the company. If there was trade down, they traded to our brands, which were leaders. So we have like the -- we are still the leader at the, let's say, the $15 to $18 price points. So if they go down, they will go down to our brands in general.
And then going down from Especial, I don't think there is much options going down to Especial. So I don't see I don't see anything bad happening this year. I don't know what's going to happen next year. It depends how bad it gets. But this year, I don't think there will be big surprises. If there's the trending down, it's going to be, I think, still small this year. And if it goes down, we have brands in all the price points. So...
No, that's very clear. And maybe if I could ask another one on distribution platforms. Obviously, you've had a lot of success at moving to your own distribution in many countries. And the experience has definitely worked well, as you can see on the results across the years. But over the last couple of years, some players like Pernod, Campari, Diageo have been jumping on third-party distribution platforms, specifically in LatAm, but maybe in some other regions that we don't cover, platforms like Andina and Coca-Cola FEMSA to reach the traditional channel throughout LatAm.
And this is certainly different than what you have with Diageo in the U.S. because, obviously, Diageo is a competitor and Coke isn't. But just wondering, what's your opinion on third-party distribution platforms across the world? And is that something that you would consider for the smaller operations where you may not have the core volume to distribute yourself?
Yes, yes. We are open to that. We are I mean, yes, we are evaluating options now to see this kind of new ways of distributing our products. So yes, we're open for small markets that really there is no scale, of course. I mean we are only with our own distribution companies in which we have scale and in which tequila's import very important. The rest is done by third parties and so.
And we are open to explore ideas like what Coca-Cola FEMSA is doing, for Coca-Cola in international.
Very clear. And then maybe last one on pricing. Very solid pricing. And you did explain in the call that some of that was carryover, for example, in Mexico, I believe you said you couldn't increase prices, but in LatAm, you did. So just wondering what was kind of the breakdown of that solid performance in price that you had between what was rate increases versus anything that's related to the mix on premiumization, category packages and all that? Just trying to separate rate from the rest of the levers.
Fernando, can you elaborate on that, please?
Yes. Basically, Felipe, we mentioned we had 2 effects going on in the increase in the sales per case. One clearly is premiumization and the other one price. On the specific breakdown on how much of that is attributed to each factor, we would need to go region by region. I don't know if Luis wants to comment specifically on the U.S., how much of that breakdown directionally was just a product mix versus just price increase per se?
Yes. As I mentioned in my first part, we increased prices in May. So it's only 10%. The growth that we are experiencing is only 10% attributable to pricing. The rest is the change of mix and the premiumization strategy that we are implementing.
And on to Mexico. As Olga explained in her scripted remarks, the price increase was done in March. So you have, in the second quarter, the full price effect increase in the second quarter.
No, that's correct, Fernando.
Our next question comes from Marcella Recchia from Credit Suisse.
I have 2 questions. First, in the U.S. Do you have a sense of how much volumes would have grown if there were no supply chain constraints? That is my first question. And the second question is, if you could elaborate a little bit more on what has been the main drivers of such strong volume performance in Mexico, notably for premium tequila?
Sure. It's very difficult to estimate what are the impacts on the supply chain volume performance, but I can tell you that the volume increases that were driven in part of our strong franchise, marketing campaigns and premiumization strategy. Also, the Cristalino phenomenon continues to roll out very well here in the region. There's strong interest from the consumers, and this supports our premiumization strategy. So I believe those are the things that have been helping our performance.
Perfect. I just don't know if you can comment on U.S. volumes. The decline was mainly explained by the constraints. Do you have any sense on how would this perform in case of no constraints in place? Do you have any sense on that for U.S.
It wasn't just constraints. It was also a decline on the RTD ready to serve our ready-to-sell portfolio. So it was part constraints, but the majority of the volume loss was due to a decrease in volume of margaritas.
Next question comes from Mr. Ricardo Alves from Morgan Stanley.
Rest of the World, another very, very strong and positive surprise. So I just wanted to see if you could remind us of the main drivers on a country-by-country basis. I missed the beginning of the call, not sure if you mentioned in the preliminary remarks, but other than the main drivers on a per-country basis, how much of this is structural rather than reopening? Because we are running significantly above pre-pandemic so there is something structural, it seems in Rest of the World. Just wanted to hear your thoughts on that.
Second question...
I'm very sorry, the host has just dropped. Just if you can just hold on for them to join back, please.
Thank you, operator. We're back on the line. Could you repeat your questions for Morgan Stanley? We're back on the line, part of the management group. Sorry for that.
Sure. Can you hear me?
Yes.
Fernando, can you hear us?
Yes.
Okay. My question is in Rest of the World, on the volume side, very impressive numbers. And just wanted to hear your thoughts on what are the main countries driving that. But besides that, how much of this performance is structural versus boosted by the reopening trends? Because you are running significantly below 2019 levels. So it seems that there is something structural going on. So I wanted to hear your thoughts on what are the markets where you see perhaps tequila gaining share of throat or whatever structural driver that you see outside of the U.S. and Mexico?
My second question is a follow-up on the gross margin question that was asked before to -- perhaps to Fernando, this 52%, 53%. I appreciate you guys don't give guidance, but perhaps could you validate the thesis or share your thoughts if you think it makes sense to believe that given that you're going to be facing higher prices going forward, generally, the mix trends are positive, the U.S. should resume growth. So qualitatively speaking, does it make sense to you the thesis that you have a better scenario for gross margin going forward, of course, assuming that there's no major changes with agave, for example.
So just wanted to get your thoughts on that. And my last question is on working capital. If you could just comment very quickly on the recent moves in inventories and payables.
Answer the first one first?
Yes, if you want to start, Gordon, I'll take the second one.
Yes, sure. So just in terms of the Rest of the World, as we did say in the script, actually, we've had very strong performance in 2 key areas. One is our in-market companies. So where we focus the large part of our resources and our investment, and we've seen particular success for those markets. And these are all markets as Juan Domingo said, where we have a strong presence for tequila within our portfolio, and therefore, tequila has a significant presence in those markets. So the U.K. and Spain, are 2 to note, but also actually, we've seen strong growth in Italy. And then, in Asia, we're seeing strong growth still in Australia and also in Japan.
The other dynamic, which I mentioned in the script was global travel retail. So consumer consumption has grown massively in this channel because there's been a big return to travel, particularly in Europe, but also in the U.S., both in border shops, but also in cruise ships. So these are the big driver areas of the growth.
To your question around structural change, yes, there is definitely evidence of structural change. To quantify that at this stage would be frankly too complicated given the number of different market dynamics that are involved. But we definitely believe -- we are starting to see a positive structural change towards tequila.
Okay. Regarding your second question regarding gross margin and higher prices going forward. As you well know, we do not give any profitability guidance. We're just sticking to volume guidance. Yes, region mix with growth in the U.S. recovering, that is clearly a tailwind for us in terms of profitability.
Yes, agave prices being stable, that's also a tailwind for us in terms of gross margin and so forth. But we're also facing higher non-agave input costs that were being to partially offset, but we're still under pressure from those input costs in general. So it's too early for us to be able to generate an expectation on where margin is going, unfortunately. So we'll have to pass on that.
As to your third question, regarding working capital, yes, you did see a stress in inventories and in payables unfavorable for us in the first half of the year. We are building inventories of liquid and maturation, dry and finished goods as part of our premiumization strategy, [indiscernible] and so forth. So that also explains part of why we're building up inventory.
And on payables, you have seen a shortening on payables, both trade and non-trade, and that has primarily to do with the fact that we have certain advancements to key vendors to ensure raw materials and dry goods availability, such as packaging and glass and even fertilizers in order for us to be able to secure production. So that's also a drag in terms of working capital.
Do you see a scenario where on the payable that this is going to improve going forward or no indications of that, Fernando?
Well, it's too early to tell when and how the supply chain conundrum is going to get fixed. We continue to be affected by it. It's getting better gradually month-by-month. But we're not out of the woods in terms of supply chain constraints. So in the short-term, we're not expecting an improvement of this, and this will continue to affect our working capital.
The next question comes from Ben Theurer from Barclays.
I want to ask a combined question just around like how you manage AMP throughout the year and then around just the general and distribution expenses? So if we take a look at AMP in the quarter, we saw it growing on a pro forma basis, obviously, a little less than what sales was so it came down as a percentage of sales. Could you confirm the theory that you're holding back a little bit right now in the period on spending, also given the fact that you have those supply chain constraints. So does it make sense to advertise a lot if you can't even fill the shelves because you have the supply chain constraints. So I just want to kind of work through that theory with you, and if you have some qualitative commentary on how you manage AMP throughout the quarters in the year, that would be my first question.
Well, yes, in the case of the U.S., we believe that our marketing plan was very aggressive for the first semester. So, and we saw some opportunities for capturing some big sponsorships that we believe are very important. But we have here Lander, our marketing CMO, and he can probably elaborate on this.
Sure. on the question. In terms of your AMP spend, we don't see that as a consequence of sales in the case of the above-the-line spend. We spent according to our marketing plans and according to our strategy. And we usually see a higher AMP spend in the first half of the year in the first quarter because the volumes are much smaller in that quarter versus the second and third and fourth. So that's where you usually see a higher spend. We also are comparing it to a year where we still have some COVID restrictions, and we couldn't spend accordingly. So you're going to see an increase in AMP, and we're not holding back based on supply constraints because we believe in brand building for the long-term.
What we are seeing is some reduction in the below-the-line spend, which is a consequence of the volume, especially on the margarita mix and the RTD portfolio. So there's some savings in below-the-line spend, which is more on the promotional activity that we do for those brands, and that's a direct consequence of the volume decline. But everything regarding above-the-line spend on the major brands, we are aggressively investing because we're building this for the long term, not just the short-term gain.
Okay. Perfect. And then if we think about the distribution expense, I mean, obviously, there's been a step-up versus the past because of some of the things you've changed in the model. But I guess it's a question for Fernando. How should we think about this going forward, like just from an absolute level? Because obviously, distribution expenses has a lot of like an energy component, we're seeing those rising energy costs, diesel and so on. So how shall we think of that going forward as you have to continue to deliver your product? That would be great if you could share some color.
Yes, Ben. Basically, we think that the cost [indiscernible] that we've been experiencing in the past quarters regarding distribution has come to an end. We think about distribution costs now in terms of a -- stable, although we are working on various initiatives to be able to efficient -- to have more efficient spend on distribution and logistics. So at least at this stage, we would think of them as currently where they are. If we give you good news going forward, we shall see.
Our final question comes from Luis Willard from GBM.
Thumbs up, with high note. So now, just -- I mean, in Mexico, I mean, specifically on the premise volume growth, would you say this recovery brought? I mean, by a normalization of dynamics or maybe that you're gaining share within this channel. In other words, it seems that there is still growth to come in this side of the market a number of outlets were still below 2019 levels.
Yes, we are growing. Actually, we are growing above the market. So we are gaining share in this in the on-premise. And we continue to believe that we still have opportunity there. And that's my answer.
All right. Perfect. And if I may have another follow-up on agave prices. I mean given the strong tequila demand, it seems that there are no conditions for prices to come down, although we've seen them stable in the year. So can you just share with us some insight on the dynamics that you're seeing? What kind of impact do you expect from the percentage of your needs that you're not vertically integrated?
On Agave prices, as we've always been stating, we refrain from discussing and giving views on agave prices. The only thing that we can say is that we've seen flat agave pricing at this stage. And given our relevance and importance in the agave market, we'd rather not comment on a agave pricing.
[indiscernible] Fernando. So if I may rephrase the question, do you see incentives for independent producers to reduced prices given the fact that the demand is so strong?
Same answer. We'd rather refrain from discussing our agave pricing.
That was our final question for today. Thank you very much, and we'll now be closing all the lines. Thank you for your attention. Have a great day. Goodbye.
Thank you, everybody. Have a good day.
Thank you. Bye-bye.