Genomma Lab Internacional SAB de CV

BMV:LABB

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q2

[Operator]

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining Genomma Lab's Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this meeting is being recorded and will be available for replay from the Investor Relations section of Genomma's website following the call. I'll now turn the call over to Barbara Cano of the InspIR Group. Please go ahead.

[Barbara Cano]

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining. On today's call are Marco Sparvieri, Chief Executive Officer; and Antonio Zamora, Chief Financial Officer.

Before we get started, I'd like to remind you that the remarks today will include forward-looking statements such as the company's guidance and expectations, including long-term objectives and forecasts, as well as expectations regarding Genomma's business, assets, products, strategies, demand and markets. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. They're also based on assumptions as of today, and the company undertakes no obligation to update them as a result of new information or future events.

Let me now turn the call over to Mr. Marco Sparvieri.

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Thank you, Barbara, and good morning, everybody. I am pleased to share that Genomma had another strong quarter, with sales growing 17.4% year-over-year in like-for-like currency, excluding Argentina. Despite the challenging currency environment with a strong peso and a minus 23% devaluation in Argentina, when converted to Mexican peso, the growth stands at 1.1%.

Our EBITDA margin also showed an important improvement, reaching 21.1%, a 50 basis points increase compared to the previous year. We remain confident in our forecast of growing our margins slightly ahead of 2022. Additionally, our free cash flow reached MXN 429 million, an increase of MXN 209 million versus a year ago.

Let me provide some insights into our core business KPIs. 74% of our business grew a healthy inflation, with all our major countries reporting double-digit growth in the top line. Mexico grew 19%; the U.S., 23%; and LatAm, without Argentina, 8.1%.

Our strategy of focusing on core brands and categories continues to deliver strong results, with 61% of our sales gaining market share. Most of our core brand, except Cicatricure and Asepxia, have shown significant growth outpacing the categories where we compete.

In terms of productivity, we had another strong quarter, successfully concluding 2 key projects that together contribute MXN 96 million in annual productivity savings. Year-to-date, we have executed projects totaling MXN 216 million in annual productivity savings. I will delve deeper into these projects and provide more perspective during the presentation.

I would like to reiterate our 2-pillar strategy that will guide us for the next 5 years. Firstly, we remain steadfast in our intentional focus on driving and investing in our core brands. As we discussed in the last call, we are committed to selling or divesting the noncore assets. This strategic approach will allow us to maintain a more concentrated management focus and unlock valuable working capital.

Secondly, productivity is deeply ingrained in our DNA, and it forms the foundation of our second pillar. As we committed during the Genomma Day back in February, we have robust plans in place to achieve a total of MXN 1.8 billion in productivity savings by 2027.

These charts demonstrate our strong performance, with 61% of our sales gaining market share in their respective categories. Tio Nacho is thriving with a remarkable 21% growth. Suerox is soaring with a significant 32%. Groomen is achieving an impressive 55%, and our Analgesics category is up by an impressive 43%. Additionally, our Cough & Cold products are flourishing with a strong 41% growth. And our Gastro category is also showing a positive growth at 16%.

However, it is important to note that Cicatricure and Asepxia are experiencing some challenges, with both showing a decline in sales. Cicatricure is down by minus 3%, while Asepxia is down by minus 25%. We are closely monitoring these brands, and we are committed to implement it -- to implementing the necessary strategies to address the current situation.

I am delighted to share that most of our markets delivered strong performances this quarter. Mexico led the way with an impressive top line growth of plus 19%, showcasing the strength of our presence in this vital market. The USA also demonstrated robust growth, achieving a 23%. Meanwhile, in Latin America, our performance was affected by the devaluation in Argentina. But excluding Argentina, we grew 8.1%.

Now let's delve into the performance of our core brand, Suerox. This quarter, Suerox demonstrated a remarkable growth, achieving an impressive 32% increase in sales. The brand reached record-high sellout in Mexico, soaring at a 44%. In Chile, Suerox achieved a market share of 18.8%, reflecting its strong position in this market. Moreover, in the USA, Suerox had an outstanding performance, with sales surging by an impressive 67%. Additionally, all market expansions are right on track, and we anticipate surpassing the expected forecast in those regions.

In this chart, you can appreciate the successful performance of Suerox. You can see the red line reaching 18.8% of market share in Chile, getting closer and fast to Gatorade and Powerade. This is a strong indicator that even outside Mexico, Suerox can be very successful.

In Q2, Tio Nacho delivered a robust performance, with sales soaring by 21%. This growth was driven by the successful launch of a new version that specifically targets eliminating gray hair as well as the continued success of our 950 ml size variant. I am excited to share that we have updated the chart, the share charts to the left, highlighting the rapid progress we are making in approaching the market shares of the category leader. Tio Nacho's strong growth and market gains are a testament of the effectiveness of our strategic focus and consumer appeal.

Let's take a closer look at the chart on the screen, which showcases the success of our anti-gray hair version. As you can see, this variant has become one of our top sellers for the brand, rapidly gaining popularity among our customers. The anti-gray hair version has resonated exceptionally well with our target consumers. And its performance is a testament to the strength of the product offering and our ability to meet consumer demands effectively.

Now let's turn our attention to another achievement, the significant success of our 950 ml size variant. As depicted in the chart, the 950 ml size has experienced an outstanding sales growth, becoming a standout performance -- performer for our brand. This larger size has struck a chord with our consumers, providing them with added value and convenience, leading to its rapid adoption in the market. Its success is a testament to our ability to identify and cater to our customers' preferences effectively.

In these charts, you can appreciate how Tio Nacho is already the #1 brand in the pharmacy channel in Chile. The chart on the left shows how Tio Nacho is the leading brand in the category. That's the yellow line at the top.

And in the chart at the right, you see a spike in the yellow line that shows how the introduction of Henna Egipcia boosted the brand growth at the largest perfumer in Chile, Preunic. Groomen also had a strong quarter, achieving a record high market share of 7.6% in Chile. This remarkable achievement indicates strong market acceptance and consumer trust, showcasing the superiority of our products and effectiveness of our communication strategy compared to our competitor, Gillette. Our strategic approach and focus on product excellence have resonated well with consumers, driving increased adoption and loyalty. This success further solidifies Groomen's position as a leading brand in the market.

Analgesics demonstrated yet another outstanding quarter, achieving all-time record high sales. Our strategic efforts are paying off as X-Ray in Colombia reached an impressive milestone, consolidating as a solid #3 position in the category with a remarkable total of 8.7 percentage points in just 2 years. Moreover, the successful launches of X-Ray in Chile and Ecuador are exceeding expectations with extraordinary growth rates of 224% and 120%, respectively.

In Mexico, Alliviax reported record high sales, delivering a plus 36% growth in this quarter. This strong performance reflects the effectiveness of our products and our ability to meet consumers' needs effectively. Our Analgesics portfolio continues to drive exceptional results, and we are excited about the continued growth and opportunities ahead.

Let's take a closer look at the chart, which vividly illustrates the phenomenal growth of X-Ray in Colombia. In just a few years, X-Ray has achieved remarkable progress, consolidating its position as the #3 player in the category.

It is worth noting that a short while ago, X-Ray barely existed in this market. This achievement reflects our brand's strong performance, effective strategies and the strong acceptance of X-Ray by Colombian consumers. We are proud of the team's dedication and the brand's rapid ascent to a prominent position in the market.

Cough & Cold also delivered a robust performance, achieving a [ blessed ] 41% growth in the quarter. As shown in the chart on the left, we have hit record high market shares in key markets, including Mexico, the U.S., Argentina, Colombia and Peru. This growth is a testament to the effectiveness of our product offerings and our ability to meet consumer needs effectively in each market. The success of Cough & Cold reinforces its position as a leading brand, and we are excited about the continued opportunities for growth in this category.

I am thrilled to share that we are making strong and steady progress in a category that holds a significant potential worth USD 2.5 billion in Latin America. Our brand, Novamil, demonstrated remarkable growth, gaining market share in all segments where we compete.

Specifically in the constipation segment, Novamil grew by 2.9 share points. In the rice segment, we achieved a growth of 6.5 points. Additionally, our premium variant also saw significant gains with an increase of 0.7 points. In the reflux segment, Novamil's success continued, gaining 2.0 points. These remarkable results are a testament to the effectiveness of our strategic initiatives and the superiority performance of Novamil. We are excited about the potential in this category and remain committed to further expanding our presence of these brands throughout Latin America.

Now let's switch gears and discuss our remarkable progress in productivity initiatives. As of February 2023, we committed to achieve a total of MXN 1.8 billion in productivity savings by 2027. I am delighted to report that our efforts have been yielding significant results. Year-to-date, our productivity initiatives have successfully generated a total of MXN 216 million in annual savings. This steady progress puts us well on track to meet and even exceed our target.

Our dedication to enhancing productivity across the organization reflects our commitment to operational excellence and creating sustained value of our stakeholders. We will continue to drive these initiatives to ensure ongoing efficiency gains and profitability.

I am thrilled to share that during Q2, we achieved a significant milestone with the successful commissioning of a new Suerox line. This expansion has bolstered our manufacturing capacity by an additional 96 million bottles per year. Not only has the new Suerox line increased our production capacity, but it has also played a pivotal role in our optimization efforts. The expansion has led to a remarkable production of MXN 63 million in Suerox COGS, resulting in substantial annual sale savings. This achievement reflects our commitment to continuous improvement and investment in our manufacturing capabilities.

The increased capacity and cost savings position us well to meet growth in the market, meeting demands and further enhancing our competitive edge. We extend our gratitude to the entire team involved in making this expansion a resounding success, and we look forward to the positive impact it will have on our company's growth and performance.

In Q2, we successfully concluded a project aimed at optimizing our product labels, and the results have been nothing short of remarkable. Through this initiative, we achieved a significant cost reduction of minus 55%, translating to an impressive annual savings of MXN 25 million.

One of the key strategies behind this success was consolidating our label production from 18 suppliers to just 2. By streamlining our label sourcing, we have not only reduced complexity but also minimized costs associated with the aspect of our operations.

This optimization project exemplifies our commitment to continuous improvement and cost efficiency. The substantial savings achieved will further bolster our profitability and create value for our shareholders. I commend the efforts of the team involved in executing this project and the strategic vision that has led to its success. We will continue to seek opportunities for enhancement across all aspects of our operations to drive sustainable growth.

I added a few more slides to remind you of the 2 productivity projects that we concluded last quarter. In this slide, you can see how we generated close to MXN 30 million in savings by reducing the number of packaging suppliers from 23 to 2 and the number of SKUs from 73 to only 12.

In this last slide, I wanted to remind the audience of the vertical integration we finalized in Q1 that will deliver a total annual savings of MXN 96 million. With all that said, I will pass it on to Tonio.

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

Thank you, Marco, and good morning, everyone. Genomma delivered meaningful year-on-year EBITDA margin improvement and strong sales for the quarter, with continued progress on our core business KPIs.

Let me briefly review some highlights on our financials for the second quarter 2023. Net sales reached MXN 4.370 billion for the quarter, just slightly above a 1% year-on-year increase despite continued macroeconomic adversity and the strengthening of the Mexican, I would say, super peso relative to the U.S. dollar and other currencies.

As you can see in this graph, this represents Genomma's 18th consecutive quarter of sales and profit growth despite all the macroeconomic headwinds that we know of. Please note that the Mexican peso or super peso appreciated almost 12% year-on-year relative to the U.S. dollar by quarter's end, something that has been unprecedented from our experience in many, many, many years.

Second quarter EBITDA margin increased by 50 basis points year-on-year to 21.1% due to a favorable product mix effect and cost and expense controls. This was partially offset by Mexican peso strength and Argentina's hyperinflationary accounting, which negatively impacted the year-on-year comparison of the company's profitability.

I would like to note that EBITDA in Q2 includes a line of business that is currently recorded as an extraordinary item, while we evaluate the longer-term potential of certain specific initiatives that accounted for approximately MXN 50 million. Our alignment with consumer trends, trusted brands and purpose-minded practices continue to create a tailwind for growth.

Looking at our results by region. Second quarter net sales for Genomma's Mexico operations increased by 19.4% year-on-year. Let me repeat that, 19.4% year-on-year to almost MXN 2.1 billion, again, benefiting from strong core brand sales, as Marco has already explained, notably Suerox, XL-3, Tio Nacho, Tukol and Alliviax as well as some other line extensions.

The 70 basis point EBITDA margin contraction, you know that in the quarter for Mexico was due to a onetime cost related to the company's transition from third-party manufacturers into our own manufacturing facility. Note that these are indeed onetime cost and expenses. And they differ from those discussed last quarter and are also related to different projects.

We again saw strong U.S. market performance with double-digit local currency increase, actually 23% and 8.4% when translated at those excellent results into Mexican pesos. Notably, we are seeing deepened product generation -- sorry, deepened product penetration, particularly within the Puerto Rico and California markets.

Second quarter 2023 U.S. EBITDA margin closed at 6.5%, a slight expansion driven by a favorable product mix effect. This was, however, offset by the peso strength for the quarter, which increased cost of goods sold, as well as a less favorable product mix effect and investments we made during the quarter in television, outdoor media and displays, all of this to boost visibility and drive top line growth.

Latin America second quarter 2023 net sales reached MXN 1.9 billion, with double-digit growth in most of Genomma's categories and countries when expressed in local currency terms. And Marco was very clear in terms of how this is important for the company, and we are very proud of the performance of all these business units and countries.

On the other hand, Argentina hyperinflationary accounting effects and the strengthening of the Mexican peso and an unfavorable comparison relative to 2022 resulted in a 14.5% year-on-year decrease despite excellent core brand performance. Just look at this chart. Look at the strengthening of the Mexican peso or the weakening of all of these currencies. It's [ a failing ], but it is what it is. We have to live with it.

Along these lines, you will note that the foreign exchange was Genomma's most significant headwind during the second quarter 2023, as 51.4% of Genomma's top line financials were materially impacted when converted into Mexican pesos. Besides the major forex headwinds, the company had to deal with the negative impact of the hyperinflationary accounting IAS 21 and IAS 29. In the report for Q2, the results from the first quarter in Argentina had to be restated using the cumulative inflation. And finally, those results are then converted into Mexican pesos, causing the using the exchange rate of the last day of the reporting period.

Year-to-date, the forex depreciation of the Argentine peso against the Mexican peso has been substantially larger than the cumulative inflation, as you can see in this chart. As a result of this application of IFRS rules, all of this resulted in a negative net effect on the second quarter 2023 in the results from our Argentina subsidiary.

It is worth noting that Genomma's top line reached double-digit growth in Mexican peso despite all of the major forex depreciation in all other markets that are not hyperinflationary. Of course, we are reporting 1.1% growth on a consolidated basis. But if you exclude the impacts of the hyperinflationary subsidiary, basically we are growing double digit, which is remarkable.

Going back -- going to the cash conversion cycle. Accounts receivable -- sorry, another positive news is working capital. During the second quarter of 2023, we ended at 95 days, which is an 11-day quarter increase on a sequential basis.

Accounts receivable amounted to MXN 4.5 billion, and inventories closed at MXN 2.2 billion as of June 30, 2023. Days of inventories amounted to 118, which is a 6-day sequential decrease. Importantly, we also continue to strengthen Genomma's financial debt maturity profile during the second quarter 2023, also optimizing the average liabilities duration.

As you may recall, we reported at the end of the first quarter 2023 that over MXN 4.7 billion of debt were scheduled to mature in the upcoming 12 months. This is the chart. This is what you saw last quarter. So in the second quarter, we issued MXN 1.5 billion in Mexican corporate bonds, or as they are called, Certificados Bursátiles or Cebures, LAB 23 and LAB 23-2 on April 4, 2023. The transaction was 2.4x oversubscribed and allocated among a diversified investor base.

We then reissued another MXN 1.1 billion to our LAB 23-2 Cebures on April 18, which was also 1.8x oversubscribed. Proceeds from LAB 23 and LAB 23-2 unsecured local bonds were used to prepay the total amortization of our LAB 20 unsecured local bond on April 28. And that was a major liability that we have to pay for the next 12 months.

Notably, and this is what we are reporting -- sorry, this chart shows what we're reporting at the end of the second quarter. Notably, at the end of the quarter's end, on July 20, Genomma issued another MXN 600 million to its LAB 23 Cebures, which was again 1.3x oversubscribed. The use of these proceeds is to prepay debt with institutional banks, strengthening the company's financial debt maturity profile and reducing the average yield, TIIE plus spread, paid during the third quarter and beyond. In summary, Genomma successfully refinanced its debt to increase the maturity profile and reduce the spread of TIIE, which is the leading rate in Mexico.

As you know, a dividend was declared at our April 28 annual shareholders' meeting. Genomma paid a cash dividend on June 7 to shareholders for a little bit over -- almost MXN 0.20 per share on its common stock for a total of MXN 200 million. We intend to pay dividends on a quarterly basis. Let me stress that. We intend to pay dividends on a quarterly basis, obviously subject to the annual general shareholders' meeting terms and conditions and the guidelines that they set for this program.

Also, at our April shareholders' meeting, Genomma shareholders approved the cancellation of 28 million shares of Genomma common shares. So now we have a total of 1.02 billion shares. And so we ask you to update your EPS calculation with this updated number of outstanding shares. Also, during the second quarter, Genomma repurchased a total of a little bit over 4.4 million shares, almost 4.5 million, representing a nearly MXN 67 million investment.

This is also a very interesting chart. In terms of sustainability, we are very proud to announce that our ESG rating within the MSCI ESG Index was upgraded again during the quarter to BBB from BB relative to the pharmaceutical industry. This represents Genomma's second rating increase in terms of ESG in the past 3 years. And we continue to be committed in terms of evolving our ESG journey as the company had previously disclosed in its 2025 ESG sustainability vision.

In closing, this quarter demonstrated the positive results from Genomma's continued strategic focus on core brands reflected in strong second quarter sales and Genomma's 18th consecutive quarter of sales growth despite the continued macroeconomic and forex capacity we described.

Genomma's cost containment and productivity programs are yielding results in line with our expectations to deliver a target to achieve MXN 1.8 billion in related savings by 2027. Genomma's year-to-date results, combined with robust demand for Genomma's products and our actions to optimize our process structure, bolster our confidence in delivering strong operating performance.

I'd like to reiterate Marco's thanks to Genomma's associates, employees for their collective power in driving our success. We are proud of the tremendous job that our team has done navigating the continued dynamic environment in all countries. I'd also like to recognize their energy and excitement for the business, which is coming through in our results.

Let us now turn the call over to your questions in case you have any.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Antonio Hernández with Barclays.

[Antonio Hernández Vélez Leija, analyst]

Congrats on the results. My question is -- well, 2 quick questions. First, do you have any update in terms of CapEx expected for the year? And also in terms of tax, I mean you mentioned the tax decline this quarter. What are your tax expectations for the year?

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Thank you for the question. Tonio, let me take the CapEx one, and you take the tax. On the CapEx, I would say that we are almost done with large CapEx expenditures for the plant. We will continue to see, over the years, investment in CapEx, but all those investments will be behind projects that will yield significant increases in productivity. But nothing like what you have seen in the past few years while we were building the plant. Tonio?

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

Thank you, Marco. And just to complement on Marco's comment, you've seen that we invested MXN 80 million -- around MXN 80 million for the first 6 months of the year. So expect something like that for the second half. And as Marco is saying, most of the CapEx investments will come from maintenance. Obviously, the plant is brand new, but you always need to do some investments in maintenance, a little bit of innovation. And as Marco said, some productivity projects that will pay by themselves.

So that's -- I would say that at this moment what we've spent for the past 6 months will be used as an indication. But again, we're going to take -- make our decisions based on the different projects and the different requirements of the operation. Antonio, I don't know if we were able to answer your first question?

[Antonio Hernández Vélez Leija, analyst]

Yes.

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

Thank you so much. Now regarding the tax line, everybody knows that tax is a very complex matter. And we operate in 18 different markets with different rules. The situation in Argentina is particularly complex because of all the hyperinflationary accounting effects. Brazil, we know it's always been very complex.

So I would say, yes, you see efficiencies this quarter, which are great. But I would not want to guide you to think that's the new effective rate because the statutory rates in all countries hasn't changed. It just appeared this quarter as something positive. I would still recommend you to use the average effective rate that we've had in the past, something along the low 30s percent because, again, there's not new laws in any country that would lead us to believe that taxes are going to be lower.

Having said this, something that Marco and I are working in very much detail is trying to find some efficiencies. We -- as a company, we still have some net operating losses in a couple of subsidiaries. So there could be some efficiencies and that we're going to try to leverage them whenever that is possible. And if that happens, that's going to be positive news, and everybody would like that. But it's hard to predict something different than what has happened in the past. I don't know if that answers your question.

[Antonio Hernández Vélez Leija, analyst]

Okay. Yes.

[Operator]

Our next question will be coming from [ Luis Willard ] with [ Fabione ].

[Unknown Analyst]

Guys, can you hear me?

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

Yes.

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Yes, please.

[Unknown Analyst]

Perfect. Marco, Tonio, congrats on impressive top line results. So my question is about margins and the contribution that the new business has on EBITDA. First, I wanted to understand or make sure that this is a new business that applies to Mexico only?

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

What do you mean, that question...

[Unknown Analyst]

Yes. What I want to -- I mean, those MXN 50 million are included in the 19 -- in the EBITDA of Mexico, correct?

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

You mean the [indiscernible]?

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

No, no, that's not the -- this -- the MXN 50 million extraordinary profit that is being recorded, it's a couple of new initiatives. It's not just one. It's a couple of them. And most of them are basically located in LatAm, not in Mexico.

[Unknown Analyst]

Correct. Perfect. That makes a lot of sense. So I mean I understand that you perhaps don't want to talk too much about it. But I mean if we assume that it's a new venture that's more or less in line in terms of profitability with the rest of your businesses, so let's say, a 20% EBITDA margin...

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

It's -- let me just say it straight. It's a large business with a profitability that will actually improve the mix of our current business.

[Unknown Analyst]

Correct. Exactly. So we're -- to my point, we're looking potentially at incremental sales over 5% for this new business. So my question would be...

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

I think, Luis, just to clarify, those are your assumptions. As you know, in the accounting rules, when there's some extraordinary item, we will record the income that, that generates. So we cannot discuss in terms of how big it is in terms of top line. And we cannot give you too many details because we are under confidentiality agreements for these initiatives, number one.

And number two, as we said in the earnings release, we are still evaluating whether this is going to become part of the Genomma business so it would be organic. And then we would have the typical sales costs, expenses, et cetera, or it would continue this way. We haven't made that decision yet. So far, what's interesting is that it added MXN 50 million to EBITDA, which is something that we believe our shareholders will appreciate.

[Unknown Analyst]

Fair enough. I think I'll leave it there then.

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

Thank you, Luis, and thank you for your interest. Again, we know that it was a very good question. Unfortunately, as I said, we are under confidentiality agreements at this stage. So we'll leave it like that.

The important thing is that as Marco very well pointed out, it's a profitable business. It's an interesting business. We are assessing and evaluating whether this is going to be something that we want to continue doing. So far, it looks promising. It looks very positive, and that's why we wanted to share it with you. But to this point, we cannot provide any more comments.

[Operator]

Our next question will be coming from Rodrigo Alcantara with UBS.

[Rodrigo Alcantara, analyst]

First of all, I mean, impressive results on Mexico, nothing to add there. Congrats on that and also appreciate the details on the savings on sales and brands, much more easy for us to understand the value of your company.

So my question here, well, the first one is, thinking about Mexico, 20% growth, Marco, in your view, I mean to sustain this growth over the next quarters, what would be a function of what you said mainly primarily driven by as a function of consumer demand, as a function of or you extending your production capacity? What's the correct way to think about the growth algorithm for Mexico?

I'm asking that just to -- let's assume that we get into 2Q 2024. I mean which -- should we expect like another 20% growth that quarter? Or would be the case like on a tough comp base, maybe we can see a lower growth than that. The point here is how sustainable do you think that this 20% growth is for, I guess, Mexico?

And the second one also would be on the brand disposal part. The question that we have received the most from investors is regarding this. Personal, some conflicts in this. I mean I get that the implications, right, in terms of valuation, right, could unlock some value there. But just curious on your latest thoughts. I mean how possible would it be for you guys that your brands are performing so well, Suerox growing at the rate that we're seeing, core and other brands? I mean your thoughts on what would be like at the end of the day, the cost benefits for you to perhaps potentially selling one of these brands which have performed so well in the last few months? Those would be my 2 questions.

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Thank you, Rodrigo. Let me address both questions, and then I will let Tonio provide his perspective as well. On the -- on Mexico first, we just experienced a very strong quarter, as you've seen. Quarter 1 was also pretty strong with a growth of -- double-digit growth of close to 13%.

And what I would say is that you should expect Mexico to perform well. I would not put in your algorithms anything close to 20%. My guidance would be more in the high single digits and low double digits. That would be the range of the performance of the market, which is pretty strong comparing with how we have performed over the past few years in Mexico. And the reason why we are going to be growing double digits in Mexico is basically because of the strong performance that we are seeing in several of our brands like Suerox, Tio Nacho. Cicatricure is an exception in Mexico, is performing very well unlike the rest of the market.

And then this past year, maybe these past 2 years were very tough in terms of manufacturing. Ramping up the manufacturing site and transferring all the technology from [ Matidalores ] to the plant was very, very tough. And we saw a massive amount of [ fraught ] or sales loss behind low fill rates. We are not expecting that in the future because things are working well right now. So that will be my answer on the first question.

And on the second question, what I would say is that our current plans is to sell or divest, as I mentioned in my presentation, the brands that don't make sense in our portfolio, and mostly talking about Mexican brands that we have owned for many years but do not match the strategy that we have defined for the company for the coming years in terms of categories where we want to play, categories that are big, profitable and where we have the right to win.

Now that doesn't necessarily mean that if there's a very good offer on one of the large brands, we won't take it. And as part of the process of accepting or selling a brand like Suerox or Tio Nacho or whatever, we will obviously run an analysis on what's the impact on the total company economics. And that will be key to make that decision.

If selling a brand means that we are going to make a massive impact in the company's economics, then we're not going to do it. I mean because at the end of the day, our priority #1 is to preserve our shareholders' value. I don't know if that answers the question.

[Rodrigo Alcantara, analyst]

Yes, that was very clear. Yes, I mean that's actually my final question was -- is would, let's say, Suerox would be on the table, for instance, right?

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Yes. I don't know, Tonio, if you want to add some color to what I mentioned.

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

Thank you, Marco. I think that both answers were excellent. Mexico is performing really well. The team is doing great things, and brands are performing exceptionally. And obviously, the activities in the point of sale are there.

But again, I also agree with Marco. We are -- let's -- everybody knows that we are coming out of this awful pandemic and COVID-19 and a couple of years where there was no flu, there was no cold. There was no -- I mean the world was different. People were staying at home, using masks, using hand sanitizers. So fortunately, the world is becoming more normal. And our brands are experiencing tremendous growth, as Marco said, Tukol, Alliviax, XL-3, et cetera. So in pharma, it's excellent. Suerox is obviously a winner, and Marco showed that in his earlier remarks. And it's a winner not in Mexico, it's a winner in many countries, and it will continue to be that way.

Now I think that what Marco said in terms of what he believes would be more reasonable in terms of what I would put in your models in terms of high single-digit, low double-digit for Mexico, I think that's reasonable, especially that we're going to be growing from a higher base right now. But again, the brands are performing well. The transition to the plant is also helping brands like Tio Nacho, higher quality, lower cost, innovation.

So I know many investors are expecting for that specific trigger point for the share price to go higher. Well, I think some of those are already happening. Now it's up to each investor to decide if that's the moment or they want to wait a little bit more. But -- so that's for the first question.

And the second question, again, Marco answered it perfectly. The -- obviously, if we could choose, we would sell the noncore brands because they don't add much to the business. And they're small and you need to -- they consume a certain bandwidth and complexity, et cetera. But as Marco said and Rodrigo said earlier in the Investor Day, we're business people. If it makes sense to sell one of the largest brands and that will create shareholder value, of course, we are open to that. Not because we want to, as Marco said. It is because that would signal to the market that there's a lot of hidden value in Genomma that for whatever reason, the market hasn't recognized yet. And once that happens, people will look at what's obvious or at least it's obvious to us. And that's the reason why we're buying back shares as much as we can.

Obviously, first, we needed to refinance debt because we are a responsible company. We also are committed to dividends. So there's some commitments that we have to fulfill. But once those are done, then we're going to be buying back shares because in the way we see things, there's not a better M&A project for Genomma than buying back our own shares.

[Rodrigo Alcantara, analyst]

No, that's clear. And I guess news on the potential dividend policy or something like that would be during the next shareholders' meeting right, after that, right?

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

Yes, we'll probably be announcing a new dividend. Well, we've said this, Rodrigo, for everybody. We've said that instead of having dividends every 6 months, we're going to be paying dividends every quarter. If you have the dividend that we're going to be paying in Q3 plus the dividend of Q2 and compare that to the dividend that we paid in a semester, you will see that the dividend per share is almost -- it's 2.8% higher than it was. And the reason for that is that we canceled shares in the shareholders' meeting.

So although the absolute number, the MXN 200 million per quarter is going to be the same, what every time we cancel shares, that will imply a higher dividend per share for our shareholders. We want to reward all shareholders. Marco is a shareholder. I am a shareholder. We want to be rewarded as much as all of the people that have put their trust in us, and that's what we are going to be doing.

[Operator]

Our next question will now come from Álvaro García with BTG.

[Alvaro Garcia, analyst]

Two questions on my end. One, I was wondering if you could maybe -- we saw very strong growth out of X-Ray and Alliviax, analgesics sort of ex [indiscernible]. Maybe if you could walk through sort of what helped that happen in places like Colombia. What drove that uptick in sales from those 2 brands would be very helpful.

And my second question is sort of if you could just sort of walk us through where you are in terms of production capacity for Suerox today. You mentioned the new line. Where you are in terms of utilization and sort of your overall map of sort of in-house production versus third-party production would be very helpful.

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Yes. Thank you, Álvaro. Let me start with the production capacity, which is easier. Right now, with the commissioning of the new line, we'll have total capacity in place of close to 200 million bottles between the new line and our line in the San Cayetano plant. That's 200 million. That is like maybe 20% to 30% above what we need right now. And we have [ 2 Matidalores ] that can produce around 40 million between the 2 of them. So this -- the current capacity will be good for us for 2023 and 2024 without any problem. And right now, we're working on a project to add a third line in the San Cayetano plant. So -- because by 2025, we're going to need it, okay?

[Alvaro Garcia, analyst]

Clear, very clear.

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

And then on X-Ray, the reason -- first of all, the reason of the brand success is twofold. Number one is the formula is fantastic. It's a registration that we had for many years, but we were only positioning the brand as a brand that was mostly focused on joints. So it was more like a niche but with a fantastic formula. It's like -- maybe the example would be like having a 747 jet only to travel from Colombia to Ecuador, okay? So what we did is we repositioned the brand as a general analgesic brand. That happened like 2 or 3 years ago. You know that these categories are really hard. I mean to grow share in the analgesic categories, like these are very, very hard categories.

So we repositioned the brand, created a new consumer positioning and so on, and it worked. And so now after we saw it works, we expanded the same concept to Peru, Ecuador and Chile. So in these 3 countries, we are applying the same path, and it's starting to work well in all these 3 countries. Peru, not so much. So we are reevaluating what to do in Peru, but Ecuador and Chile are working really well with X-Ray.

[Antonio Zamora Galland, executive]

Just adding -- thank you, Marco. Just adding to your comments, which are excellent and illustrate very good what happened with these brands that Álvaro had this question. But it's just an example again of what the company has been doing, not just in this quarter. So that's part of the capabilities. You saw...

[Technical Difficulty]

[Alvaro Garcia, analyst]

I can't hear Tonio anymore, by the way.

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Operator, can you hear me?

[Operator]

I can hear you, Marco.

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Okay. I think we lost Tonio. We can proceed with the following question.

[Operator]

All right. Actually, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the call back over to Marco Sparvieri for closing remarks.

[Marco Sparvieri, executive]

Thank you, operator. So Q2 2023 showcased a strong financial performance, solid market growth in the key regions and significant progress in our productivity initiatives. We will continue to leverage our core brands and address challenges in skin care to drive further success.

Thank you very much for joining us. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to reach us -- to reach out to us. Thank you so much.