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Jamieson Wellness Inc
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Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Jamieson Wellness Conference Call to discuss the Financial Results for the Second Quarter of 2021. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that the reproduction of this call in whole or in part is not permitted without written authorization from the company. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.On the call today from management are Mike Pilato, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chris Snowden, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. Before I turn the call over to Mr. Pilato, please note that a press release covering the company's second quarter 2021 financial results was issued this afternoon, and a copy of that press release can be found in the Investor Relations section on the company's website. Please note that the prepared remarks, which will follow, contain forward-looking statements, and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. These statements do not guarantee future performance and therefore, undue reliance should not be placed upon them. We refer you to all risk factors contained in Jamieson's press release issued this afternoon and in filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators for a more detailed discussion of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projections and any forward-looking statements.The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly correct or update the forward-looking statements made during the presentation to reflect future events or circumstances, except as it may be required under applicable securities laws. Finally, we would like to remind listeners that the company may refer to certain non-IFRS financial measures during this teleconference. A reconciliation of these non-IFRS financial measures was included with the company's press release issued earlier today. Also, please note that, unless otherwise stated, all figures discussed today are in Canadian dollars and are occasionally rounded to the nearest million.I will now turn the call over to Mr. Pilato to get started. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, Nora, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you taking the time to join us today to discuss our second quarter 2021 financial results. I'm honored to be on the call with you today for the first time as the President and CEO of Jamieson Wellness. Before I share some highlights from a strong second quarter and turn the call over to Chris to provide some in-depth financial results and guidance, I'd like to take a moment to thank the incredible Jamieson Wellness team for continuing to deliver strong results and staying extremely focused through the second quarter and the third wave of the pandemic. Our entire team continues to work tirelessly during these times to ensure we were doing everything possible to meet the consumers' health and wellness needs. And for this, I am extremely proud and extremely grateful.I also would like to take a moment to remind you of our strategic initiatives, which are driving our strong performance to-date and will continue to do so for the long term. We have three key growth pillars: the first is to continue to maintain and grow our market-leading share in the domestic Canadian market; the second is to grow existing and new opportunities in our international markets; and third is specifically building our business in China, which we believe to be our largest organic growth opportunity. Each of these pillars is supported by the continued global trend and consumer focus on health and wealth, which was growing before the onset of the pandemic, accelerated through the pandemic and will continue to grow as consumers continue to regularly engage and participate in the category.Our best-in-class marketing and consumer insights ensure we continue to educate and engage both new and existing consumers, supporting them on their health and wellness journey. We continue to innovate, introducing new products such as our new Apple Cider Vinegar Gummy. We engaged with Health Canada to develop the safest high potency vitamins as with our first to market Vitamin D 2,500 IU, for example. We also continue to build our e-commerce channels and expand our distribution footprint, both domestically and internationally, ensuring that our products are available everywhere the consumer gives them permission to be.In support of our growth in China, earlier in the quarter, we announced the addition of Mei Ye to our Board of Directors. Mei is a management consultant based in Shanghai and her extensive experience assisting brands with their China entry and growth will be an asset[Audio Gap]To realize our potential in this very important market. Also supporting these pillars is the potential to acquire brands to help grow our footprint in more mature and international markets. We continue to review and assess opportunities for acquisition in markets such as the U.S. and Western Europe, looking for brands with quality reputations to help accelerate our geographic growth. We are very excited about the opportunities ahead of us and continue to believe in the strength of our strategy, our ability to deliver long-term growth.Now turning to our strong Q2 results. Second quarter revenue rose by nearly 19% to $111 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased at a similar, to over $22 million. In the Jamieson Brands segment, second quarter revenue increased 11% to over $82 million, with domestic growth of plus-12%. This was due to inventory replenishment supporting our consumer demand, pricing and timing of orders from retailer and distributor partners ahead of our third quarter seasonal demand and promotional calendar.International continued to show strong growth and was up nearly 22% on a constant currency basis and up 8% in Canadian currency when accounting for the strengthening Canadian dollar. This was driven by orders ahead of our seasonal demand and order replenishment for unique international products. Strategic Partners revenue increased 49% to over $28 million, mainly due to production timing of customer products throughout the year. In addition to strong top line growth, we drove solid gross margin expansion in both our branded and strategic partner segments despite the impact of incremental costs related to safety measures in our facilities, such as rapid COVID testing and higher temporary logistics costs being realized industry-wide.In the second quarter, Jamieson Brands gross margin improved by 70 basis points, with the gross margin in Strategic Partners increased 100 basis points. We saw a slight decrease in consolidated gross margin, reflecting the timing of and proportional growth related to our Strategic Partners segment in relation to our branded growth. At the consumer level, pricing and volume trend in domestic have remained consistent with our expectations. Consumption through Q2 showed strength versus the panic-buying period last year as consumers have continued to remain in the category and expand usage from immunity to other categories.We saw continued strength of Vitamin D for immunity and other categories such as sleep, stress and beauty from within. Our capital investments are progressing well. We have added tablet manufacturing and packaging capabilities to our facility in Scarborough and significantly expanded our blending and tablet compression capacity at our Rhodes Drive facility in Windsor, providing the production capacity to meet our long-term customer and consumer needs.The proactive approach and dedication of our team and the safety measures we have implemented to-date have been critical in allowing us to continue to service our customers. We are expanding our full year performance expectation for 2021 by increasing the midpoint of our revenue and earnings guidance. Our results would not have been possible without the incredible efforts of our team to push through this third wave of the pandemic and ensure we continue to drive our brands forward. We remain focused on the health and safety of our team and our communities as we continue to work towards our vision of improving the world's health and wellness.With that, I'm going to turn the call over to Chris to discuss the second quarter's financial results in more detail. Chris, over to you.
Thank you very much, Mike, and good afternoon, everyone. As Mike mentioned, we had a very strong quarter of growth as consumers remain focused on their physical and mental wellbeing. In the second quarter, revenue increased 18.6% to $110.6 million, driven by continued growth across our Jamieson Brands and Strategic Partners segments. Revenue for the Jamieson Brands segment increased 10.9% to $82.4 million, including 11.7% growth in domestic revenue, reflecting inventory replenishment to support continued consumer demand, pricing and the timing of orders ahead of our third quarter seasonal demand.International revenue for Jamieson Brands increased by 21.6% on a constant currency basis or 7.8% on a reported currency basis. International distributor customers accelerated order timing ahead of seasonal demand and continue to replenish non-immunity and unique international products. As implied, our reported international revenues were impacted by a significant increase in the strength of the Canadian dollar. Revenue in our Strategic Partners segment grew 48.9% to $28.2 million due primarily to production timing of our customer branded products.In each of our segments, gross profit and gross profit margin improved year-over-year due to increased volumes and including capital-related operating efficiencies. These gains were partially offset by incremental health and safety measures and increased ocean freight and logistics costs.Consolidated gross profit margin decreased by 60 basis points to 34.7% due entirely to segment mix and the timing of higher strategic partner revenues. In the Jamieson Brand segment, our second quarter gross profit margin was 70 basis points higher than the prior year due to volume-driven efficiencies, partially offset by increased transportation costs, ongoing operating costs of our new third-party logistics provider and the additional safety measures and business continuity costs, as we continue to manage the risk and challenges of operating in COVID-19 environment.In the Strategic Partners segment, volume-driven efficiencies drove a 100 basis point margin increase. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $21.2 million in the second quarter, up fractionally on a reported basis. Normalized SG&A was $19.7 million, 16.5% higher, reflecting additional resources to support our strategic initiatives and international marketing, primarily focused on brand building in China. Normalized SG&A excludes specified costs related to COVID-19, which were $20.5 million lower than the second quarter of the prior year. Specified costs in the second quarter of 2021 were $1.6 million, primarily due to COVID safety measures implemented at our facilities during the third wave, including a voluntary 2-week closure of our Scarborough facility; the establishment of rapid testing programs at each of our manufacturing facilities, wage premiums and donations in support of our front-line workers.Second quarter operating income increased by 50.3% to $16 million, due to higher revenue and gross profit. Operating margin improved by 300 basis points to 14.5%. Normalized for specified costs in both the current and prior period. Second quarter adjusted operating income increased by 19.9% to $17.8 million, while adjusted operating margin improved by 20 basis points. Reported EBITDA increased 52.8% to $19.4 million, while our adjusted EBITDA increased 17.6% to $22.3 million during the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin declined by 20 basis points to 20.2%, as margin improvement in both segments were impacted by -- on a consolidated basis by the timing and proportion of strategic partner volumes realized in the quarter.Net earnings of $11.5 million increased 90% from a year ago due to higher revenue and contributions. Adjusted net earnings, which excludes specified costs and foreign exchange, increased 21.8% to $12 million. Our earnings per diluted share was $0.28 and adjusted earnings per diluted share was $0.29 for the second quarter of 2021. A reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net earnings is provided at the end of today's press release, announcing the second quarter results.Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow. We generated $5.1 million in cash from operations during the second quarter compared to $14.4 million in the year earlier period. Cash from operating activities before working capital considerations of $16.1 million was $6.3 million higher due to increased earnings in the quarter. Cash invested in working capital increased by $15.6 million, driven by higher international branded and strategic partner sales, which carry longer trade terms as well as the timing of tax installments. These amounts were partially offset by accelerated inventory purchases earlier in the year, resulting in lower purchases during the second quarter of 2021.Capital expenditures during the second quarter was $6.7 million as we continue to expand our tablet manufacturing and packaging capabilities and capacities to meet higher demands. We distributed approximately $5 million in dividends during the second quarter, and we ended the quarter with over $109 million in cash and available operating lines. Based on our strong cash position and earnings growth, today, we have announced a 20% increase in our dividend from $0.125 to $0.15 per common share for our upcoming quarterly distribution. This increase reflects our target payout ratio of between 40% and 50% of adjusted net earnings.Now turning to guidance. The company is increasing its outlook for fiscal 2021 and anticipates net revenue of between 435 and $445 million. This compares to $421 million to $438 million previously announced, representing top line growth in the range of approximately 8% to 10%. And adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between 97 and $100 million, narrowed from our previous range of $95 million to $100 million, reflecting growth of approximately 10% to 13.5%. Adjusted earnings per common share per diluted common share is expected to be $1.27 to $1.32 compared with $1.24 and $1.32 previously announced. Our updated guidance reflects higher demand for domestic branded and strategic partner sales, which are partially offset by reduced efficiency from enhanced temporary safety measures as a result of the third wave of the pandemic in Canada and supply chain premiums currently experienced globally.Revenue in the Jamieson Brands segment is expected to increase between approximately 4% and 7% compared to a very strong fiscal 2020 and reflects the expected impact of a strengthening Canadian dollar on our international sales, which are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars. Domestic branded revenues are expected to grow between 3% and 6%, and we expect our international volume growth to continue to be strong at 20% to 25% growth on a constant currency basis.Revenue in Strategic Partners segment is expected to increase between 20% and 25%, while normalized SG&A expenses are expected to increase by approximately 8% to 12%. In spite of incremental COVID-19 costs and the impact of health and safety measures on our production efficiencies, we anticipate to grow our gross profit margins in fiscal 2021 in both our Jamieson branded and Strategic partner segments.Each of our segment growth margins are expected to increase by approximately 100 basis points, largely due to our ongoing capital investments and volume-driven efficiencies. We will realize further margin expansion in future years as the pandemic risk subsides, and we are able to scale back on temporary COVID-19 safety measures and when commodity-related cost increases subside.Focusing on the third quarter, we expect the following factors to impact our results. We expect domestic Jamieson brand segment growth between 3% and 5% in the third quarter of 2021. Reflecting the timing of inventory replenishment at retail and our distribution partners in the second quarter of 2021. Our international branded volumes are expected to be consistent with the third quarter of 2020 on a constant currency basis, reflecting strong replenishment and the timing of shipments earlier in 2021. We expect strategic partner revenues in the third quarter of 2021 to increase between 15% and 20%, reflecting demand for our consumer -- customers branded products. Normalized SG&A is expected to increase between 5% and 10% in support of our strategic initiatives and international marketing efforts.In closing, I would like to thank the entire team here at Jamieson Wellness for their unwavering commitment to ensuring our consumers' needs are met, continuing to manage the risk and challenges in this COVID environment. Their dedication has been very inspiring and a key driver in our success to date.With that, let me turn the call back to the operator, Nora, for Q&A.
[Operator Instructions] We'll take our first question from Sabahat Khan from RBC Capital Markets.
Great. I guess just on the international market, can you really comment on how those -- the revenues in those markets are trending if we exclude the impact of the translation?
Well, we still believe that in totality, our guided growth in year is 20% to 25%. So all of the factors that are affecting consumer demand domestically are being experienced very consistently our largest markets internationally with slightly lower demand for immunity being replaced by a broader demand across stress relief multivitamins and other categories driving the overall basket of our consumers across the world.
Okay. And then I guess just on that, are you seeing in terms of the mix of sales and revenue and domestically, are you seeing to shift to some of those same things here in Canada? And I guess, just broadly speaking, what is driving the uptick in -- or the improved outlook for the Canadian domestic market?
Yes. Saba, thanks for the question. Yes. I mean, so what Chris was talking about a minute ago, we continue to see the new baseline of consumers we've been talking about throughout the pandemic. Really remain highly engaged in the category across a lot of the categories play in. We saw -- obviously, immunity had the toughest comps in Q1 and Q2, but actually overdelivered our expectations, really driven by the continued strength of vitamin D in the domestic market. Consumers continue to stay very diligent in the usage of vitamin D and more and more consumers are starting to take it. We also saw across other categories to what Chris mentioned, sleep, stress, digestion, really this trend towards wholesome health and wellness or help them as at the core and spreading out across multiple categories as consumers' engagement levels rise in the category, and we're seeing it here in Canada, and we're seeing it globally. And that is reflected in our guidance for the year to go.
Okay. And then just one last one for me. I guess, on the mix of sales across channels, a lot of other retail categories and including us are likely impacted by the shift to online. Are you seeing any sort of change in behavior within the vitamin category or more vitamins being purchased online here in Canada?
I mean we're continuing to see the digital channels grow at exceptional rates and outpace other channel growth, however, we continue to see growth across all channels. So the category, again, is just growing across the board. Consumers are highly engaged. It's now been going on 17 or 18 months into this pandemic where consumers have become much more engaged in the category, and we're seeing continued growth. The digital channels are becoming more important in the category are growing and are becoming a larger share for us. And we continue to invest in all aspects of digital commerce, and we'll continue to do so for the long term, both here in Canada and in international markets where we're seeing the same trends.
Are you able to share maybe any parameters on how big a proportion or whether industry sales of yours online might be, I think, around the time of the IPO, it was shared that online was only about 2% here in Canada. I just wanted to see if there's a material change from that?
Yes. We don't release specific numbers by channel. I would say it's becoming more and more material in our business and is getting close to pushing a double-digit type territory for sure, both category wise and for our brands where we lead the category.
We'll take our next question from Peter Sklar from BMO Capital Markets.
Okay. I think I asked this last conference call, but I wanted to ask it again is, could you explain the high SG&A growth rate you have? I think this year, projecting SG&A dollars are going to grow 8% to 12%. And in your guidance for next year, it's 8% -- it's 5% to 10%. So why is the SG&A growth rate so high?
So growth for the current year is really about resources and really focusing our strategic -- sorry, focusing resources around our strategic initiatives. That's rounding out our international business, focusing on China specific capabilities, rounding out our e-commerce and our digital capabilities as well as a significant investment that we called out in marketing for our international business, primarily focused on China. Those -- that's the key driver of our SG&A growth. On a full year basis, you had some timing impact the current quarter. The current quarter growth was ahead of that. And our growth for Q3, which you mentioned is 5% to 10% is actually slightly below that full year rate. And it just -- it's based on the timing of marketing activities and promotions that impact that spend.
Okay. So while we're on China, I know you don't provide any segmented information on what your numbers are in the market. But can you just kind of talk a little bit about like what phase are you in, in the market in China? Like, is this still the building process? And net-net, you're losing money? Or do you make money? And kind of where are you on the evolution of the maturation of that market?
Do you want me to take that, Mike? Or do you want to...
Yes. Go ahead. Go ahead, Chris.
So we -- just to be clear, we make money in China today. We are very strict around our pricing and investment parameters. And we sell -- like we sell into a distributor there that is responsible for also investing and promoting the Jamieson brand there. So we're very confident about our path. As we announced in our press release this quarter, we really want to get closer to the consumer in China. We are looking at a number of different models with the end of our distribution agreement coming at the end of 2022, how we can get closer to the driver seat in China. And that's all that information will be to come as we fired out the final structure and a transition plan from the current structure to wherever we end up.
Okay. I think -- can I add a little context from where we are in maturation level. I would think of it this way. We are at a point in our life cycle in China, where we now have a business that is at a scale that has shown us that we have a consumer that highly resonates with our brand. We built a scale of which we think we can accelerate growth from here. And that's why you're seeing some of the increased investments of which you talked about in your first question around SG&A, and Chris responded, and some of it is marketing, most notably in China. So we've gotten to a point where we know our brand resonates. We know we can accelerate it from here. And now it's just a matter of doing it in a way that is responsible that allows us to keep making money and into some sort of a model as a[Audio Gap]
Okay. And then my last question was on price. I believe you've said that domestically in Canada has put through price on your branded business. And like when did price happen? And what was your justification to the retailers? And like what kind of pushback? And how well is the price sticking?
Pardon the eruption. There is a disconnection from Mike Pilato's line. I will reconnect the line now. Please be on standby. Thank you.
No problem. So I'll take that, Peter. So we price, as you know, every 2 to 3 years, taking price in the retail market in Canada is a huge effort, and it needs to be justified with our cost increases. And that was the amount of effort and data we use with our retail partners in Canada justify that price. The price increase to our customers was effective in the first quarter. It's been fully passed through now to all of our primary customers in the Canadian market. And that's the area of the business where it is the most difficult to price. We price internationally and on a strategic partner basis much more frequently as input demand. So as costs continue to [indiscernible] we will still monitor that and we will monitor the need to continue to push pricing in the future ensuring that we meet our margin expansion goals and ensuring that, that leverage, that benefit of running more volume through our existing infrastructure drives profitability and that costs are covered with price increases in the future.
And Chris, I just want to make sure I heard you correctly. Did you say that price domestically is only increased once every 2 to 3 years?
That's what we've done typically in the past. So over the 7 years I've been here we've priced 3x.
Hey, Chris. I'm back. Sorry about that. My call dropped.
Yes, no worries. Well, I'm here.
We'll take our next question from George Doumet from Scotiabank.
Yes. Just kind of following up on pricing, if you look at the branded domestic segment I think they reported 12% growth in the quarter. The volume versus price, is there anything you're willing to share maybe in terms of mix, is it half-half, kind of wondering how much price you put through this quarter?
Yes. We're not breaking it out by pillar. But I would say, George, we saw a growth across three different pillars in the Canadian market and all of them performed quite well for us. The first is a level of consumer growth across what we know were some very tough comps coming off the panic buying period of a year ago. So we did see organic consumption growth, which we are quite happy with and quite proud of. We did see the implementation and the impact of the pricing, which Chris was just talking about. And then we also saw the rebuild of some inventory on high demand products. I don't know if you've been in and out of stores over the last 18 months, but you see SKUs running in and out of inventory based on demand and ability to produce. And as we've been able to ramp up our production based on our capacity expansion and capital investment, we've been able to rebuild some of the inventory levels on those high demand products so that the consumer continues to get them on shelf ongoing. So all three of those, we saw driven by all three of them.
And typically [Technical Difficulty]
Sorry, I could not hear that question. I'm really sorry, George. It was cutting in and out
You're breaking up, George.
Sorry about that. I'll go on again. I was just saying the business typically benefits from operating leverage, so I'm just wondering what's the rationale behind kind of raising sales guidance more than the EBITDA guidance for the year?
Yes. We did see some margin improvements in both divisions branded and strategic partners, and some of it was definitely driven by the operating leverage and scale that we've been able to build from a manufacturing perspective. As we talked about in the call and in our release, we have seen incremental costs around the third wave of COVID. We did have to implement some more safety measures, and we are seeing some temporary increases in costs across the supply chain. And we don't really know where that's going to go moving forward. So we're continuing to monitor that. We believe them to be temporary. We believe we priced for the permanent cost increases earlier in the year, and we'll continue to monitor it. It comes down to kind of last quarter too though in the guidance we gave coming into the year. We're also trying to be responsible here in a time where there is some unknowns and some volatility, most notably around COVID coming out of wave three, talk of a wave four, where does it all go from here. We feel confident in the numbers that we've guided to, but want to remain responsible in our outlook as well based on what we see.
And maybe a final one for Chris. A substantial drag in working capital in the quarter, anything you want to share there in terms of color? And I'm just trying to get a sense of maybe anything you want to share in terms of actual free cash flow growth. Is that something we're going to see maybe next year or just thoughts around free cash flow in general given I guess, the sizable working capital requirement?
Yes. It is timing related. You see significant growth in the first half particularly in our strategic partners and our international segments. Those segments carry anywhere between 60 and 120-day terms. So in some cases, you have sales from the first quarter that were paid right at the beginning of the third quarter. So it is highly timing orientated especially in AR. We expect full year investments in working capital to be high single digit, low double digit investments. So you'll see a significant normal on that over the next 2 quarters.
We'll take our next question from Endri Leno from National Bank.
I have questions for me. I'll start with -- if you can talk a little bit about you mentioned inventory replenishment as driving sales in Q2 and we've heard some reports that retailers are keeping larger inventories just to kind of mitigate any movement in sales volatility. I was wondering if you have seen anything like that with your partners and then if you do see something like that, if you can talk to your capacity to not only replenish but keep larger inventory at your partners?
Yes. I mean, we -- I'm unaware of anything in terms of them keeping higher levels of inventory, Endri. What I can say though is if you look back at the last 3 or 1.5 years, I would say, of demand we were producing, in some cases and we talked about this in some previous quarters, almost hand to mouth. I mean the demand was so high and our capacity was struggling to go up there. We were literally shipping product, it was getting to shelf and selling almost just in time. So as we expanded our capacity we've made the investments in capital as we've talked about. We now have a capacity level that is allowing us to rebuild a level of inventory back into retail and distributor partners, warehouses to keep up with demand. And also on our end from a safety stock perspective. So we're getting back to more normalized inventory levels that we're used to. I don't know of any increases in the market that I've heard of specific on our inventory. But we definitely are set up now in terms of our capacity levels to keep up versus where we were a year ago or where we were even heading into the pandemic. So quite proud of the work. I've had the great privilege of touring all of our facilities where we've made these investments, and it's quite phenomenal to both see the progress visually in terms of the investment and the equipment and the machinery, but then also the amount of products coming off the line and how the team is working diligently continually to just continue to make more product for us and really help us get back into a strong inventory position. So quite proud of it. We feel good about it and we think we're in a good spot moving great.
Great. My other question is around costs and it was discussed by previous questions but then you also talked about the -- some elevated supply chain costs. Were those included or were they part of the justification from the price increases that you passed in Q1 or not? And if they persist, how successful do you think you can be in passing them on to your customers?
Yes. So we undergo an annual view here of all costs and look at what we need to do to protect the margins of our company. And we have a track record of protecting our margins quite well and expanding our margins and growing our margins, frankly. So as we came into this year, we looked at all the costs that we thought would be permanent. Some were some logistics costs. We price for them in market, as we've talked about, and it's reflected now in market as discussed. We will continue to assess all situations from a cost perspective and continue to protect margins at all costs. Right now, we see the incremental costs we're seeing as temporary. We think that they will fade and we would not take a pricing action on what we see as temporary. We will, however, continue to do our annual review and continue to do the responsible thing for all stakeholders and ensure that our business remains strong, both from a top line margin and bottom line perspective.
Okay. Great. Mike, and my last question is if you can talk a little bit -- I mean, you mentioned acquisitions particularly in U.S. and Western Europe as a possibility, you didn't mention China. Are we or am I to interpret that you're looking at more organic growth opportunities in China, or is that still TBD, or how are you viewing the growth opportunity there?
Well, right now, I mean we have a rich opportunity with the brand that we own, right? Jamieson is building resonance with consumers, building awareness, building loyalty. We feel really good about the brand, and we feel really good about where we can take it. And we've got a scale of business there now. We've got a core of which we can build off of. So, acquisitions are not top of the list, but I can't tell you they're totally off the list. I mean, for the right opportunity that makes sense for us strategically, of course, we would take a look at it and run it through our disciplined process and approach. We're more interested in, if we were to make an acquisition, make one in a market where we don't have a presence right now, where building a brand organically will be -- could be quite expensive and really purchase a beachhead into a country of scale, of a developed country of scale that we're not in today to accelerate our growth on top of the big organic opportunities we have in terms of continuing to grow our domestic business here in Canada at historical rates or higher and continuing to build a very scaled business into China. Chris, you got on that one?
Yes. Just to add to that, Mike, is that we do have the option to acquire our distributor in China at the end of 2022. And technically, that could be an acquisition in China, but it does focus on growing the Jamieson brand in China. So, that would be one caveat to what Mike had mentioned.
We'll take our next question from Graeme Kreindler from Eight Capital.
Just firstly, just follow-up on, you mentioned some of the consumer behavior about the broadening of the basket. Are you seeing any early signs of the potential reversion back to stronger demand for immunity or signs of that into the fall and winter, with the emergence of the Delta Variant and the like? And I guess as part of that, is Jamieson agnostic to that or is there any sort of benefits from mix shifting over time as we head into the back half of the year here?
Yes. Graeme, based on all the global insights that we have -- that we track, what I would say is you are seeing some strengthening of immunity in markets where you're starting to hear of wave 4 or the Delta Variant causing a wave 4. So, we are starting to hear some noise around that. We're prepared if it happens here in Canada, obviously, and for us, we've talked about this a few different times. We're kind of mix agnostic. We're very consistent in our margins. We're very disciplined in our pricing in terms of building margins across the category. So we're kind of agnostic. We continue to read the demand signals of that globally and here in the domestic market to make sure we're in the right products at the right time for our consumers. And based on the incremental capacity we now have, based on our investments, it has become a little easier for us to pivot and change to make those shifts as the demand signals change.
Okay. Understood. Appreciate the color there. Then just one other follow-up regarding the comments made prior about China and trying to get closer to the customer there. Referencing your late June press release, where you discussed the 3-pronged approach between cross-border e-commerce, domestic retail and e-commerce. How does that 3-pronged approach factor in with that overall goal of getting closer to the customer? Is there a certain channel that you want to prioritize, you want to lean into? And any further details about what the potential opportunities are or risks as you reach the end of that agreement at the end of 2022. Any color there would be appreciated.
Yes. Do you want to take that, Chris?
Sure. So, I think when we look at our mix in China, certainly, the majority of our volume today goes through that cross-border e-commerce channel. But I think the opportunity that Jamieson has to differentiate itself is using our industry-leading registrations, international brand registrations to drive growth in that domestic market, and that includes the domestic e-commerce channel as well. So you're going to see investments, and you're going to see additional resources that help us facilitate that as we progress. There's going to be a transition from our existing distribution model to a new model. We can't prognosticate what that's going to look like today. We're doing our due diligence to determine what is the best for Jamieson as a whole, and we'll be able to provide more information as we get further up the road. But at the end of the day, I think it was clear in our press release that we do want to be in control of our business in China. So I would expect that distribution model to change over the next couple of years.
Our next question comes from the line of Tania Gonsalves from Canaccord.
First question from me, are your domestic branded profit margins impacted at all by promotions at the retailer level, like the ones you discussed upcoming in Q3?
So year-over-year, I would say, no, Tania. So we have a very robust promotional agenda that we have throughout the year baked into and built into our business over debt. It's working with our partners and partnerships coming into every year with a joint business plan and then tweaking and altering through the year based on where the consumer is moving and shifting. So, year-over-year comp wise, I would not say so. I think what we're referring to is just we have more of a seasonal business in Q3. So, it typically is a bigger quarter for us. You typically see higher promotions in that quarter versus Q2, for example, and we shipped in some products in Q2 to get ready for those promotional activities in Q2. So, I would talk about it more in that way than margin erosion in Q3 versus other quarters. Year-over-year, it's a consistency there in how we spend.
Okay. Understood. Understood. And sticking on gross margin, and you talked a little bit about your price increases in Canada as well as internationally. Are you able to quantify though what the gross profit margin differential is between Canada and China? Or what the price differential is between those two regions?
So, we sell based on a price list that assumes the current -- certain exchange rate. And at that exchange rate, our margins are agnostic between domestic sales and international sales. As the Canadian dollar strengthens, our significant exposure on the purchasing side received a benefit from lower translation of goods and our U.S. dollar sales decline based on a lower translation currency into Canadian dollars. So, in the current year, you would see lower margins in the international business, but that's exactly offset by higher margins in the domestic business. So, that's kind of how we price from a long-term perspective. If we were to see a permanent move in exchange, then we would rebalance that target margin by geography. But because we hedge that net exposure between U.S. dollar purchases and U.S. dollar sales, we don't have significant exposure to exchange rates in the year, and that protects the overall branded company's margin irrespective of the domicile in which we sell.
Perfect. That makes perfect sense. Thank you, Chris. Okay. Next, I know through the pandemic, a lot of the China growth that you guys experienced it through digital channel. Can you provide any color on how the brick-and-mortar rollout is going in China?
We continue to build. Yes, we continue to build distribution in the drug channel. We continue to perform exceptionally well in Costco. Costco has their own expansion plans in China. We look to continue to grow domestically with them in China as well. And we're also looking to other international retailers with club stores in China to grow our distribution footprint. And we're also looking forward to Costco moving online in China. So, it's all part of that growth continuum and us continuing to build the basket of available stocks in the domestic market. And I think one of the reasons why I'm most excited about our opportunities in China.
Perfect. Okay. That's good color. And then lastly, apologies if I'm mistaken in this, but I think I saw your CapEx jumped pretty significantly in Q2 up to like over $6 million. Was there a specific reason for this? Or was it just the facility expansion that it has to do with?
Yes. So, we are significantly expanding our packaging and tablet manufacturing capabilities at our Scarborough facility. And we're also adding to blending and compression capabilities at Rhodes. We expect to spend up to $25 million in total capital in fiscal 2021 to ensure that even if there is another more significant pandemic that even operating in a constrained fashion, we have the capacity to meet the demands of our consumers.
And will that $25 million all flow through your CapEx line or your acquisitions, the PP&E? Or will it be capitalized differently?
It should all be -- it should show up on the cash flow. And that's my mix between intangible and capital, but it's going to predominantly be capital in nature.
Our next question from Justin Keywood from Stifel.
Just on the confidence of the consumers expanding to additional SKUs beyond immune boosting. I'm wondering if you could provide some context to the magnitude of additional spend for these consumers compared to the initial purchase.
Sorry, you're talking about the consumer spend?
Yes. Yes, the new consumers that have entered into the market, and they're expanding to additional SKUs? What is that magnitude of additional spend?
Well, it's not just new consumers. It's also the existing consumers we had pre-pandemic, and we're seeing spend -- unit spent per consumer or household increase for a few reasons. They're either becoming much more compliant in the regimen that they were taking pre-pandemic. So, they're not taking any breaks. If they run out of stock, they're making sure they buy more right away. They're taking it every day. They're expanding the usage, for example, of vitamin D throughout their household, to other users. And then also expanding out to other categories. So, what I would tell you is we continue to track the market. We continue to see units per consumer continue to grow as well as units or dollars per consumer continue to grow. So, I don't have the magnitude of both of those off the top of my head or I don't think we would want to release that information. But we are seeing it from both sides, units and dollars, just as the consumer becomes more engaged and becomes more engaged around becoming healthy at their core and not just being reactionary or trying to be healthy in one or two areas. Be healthy from top to bottom at their core to both boost immunity but also just to be healthier. I think what's interesting as well, I've added some of this color in the past, is you're also seeing some categories that would be the result of a long going pandemic start to grow. So, things like sleep or natural stress relief or natural energy. Those are all results of a highly stressed out consumer base, consumers that have been through a lot for a long time and are really expanding their usage across more categories to be healthier across the board. So, it's quite something to see. I think the other thing to remember is this has been going on for 16 or 17 months at this point. These behaviors by the consumers, these daily regimens, these daily habits, are ingrained in the consumer's lifestyle now, and they're also feeling the benefits of these products over time. Typically 3 to 4 months of a consumer usage day-in and day-out. We know we have a high level of stickiness and the consumer's staying in the categories long-term. We're in '17 months now. We feel quite confident that they're going to stick, that they're going to stay, and that we'll continue to grow off this new base.
That sounds quite powerful. Thank you for the context. And if I could just fit in one more. Just a follow-up on M&A. I know you mentioned possibly expanding to new geographies and creating a beachhead. But I'm just wondering if there's any particular brands or new product forms that you're seeing domestically that could be an opportunity to acquire?
We're not seeing anything new in the domestic market that is something that is hot on our list to acquire. We do see the continued emergence of some different formats like gummies, for example. And we continue to innovate strong in categories or in formats that we see growing. So we just recently launched apple cider vinegar and we've launched a new tumor gummy. We continue to expand the lineup around places where the consumer is going or is today. We're quite confident that we can meet the consumer needs here in Canada across the board and across all of our different brands without having to make an acquisition at this point. That being said, we always keep our eyes open. We're always watching. We're always looking. If something interesting were to come up, we definitely would take a deeper look at it.
We'll take our next question from John Zamparo from CIBC.
I just wanted to follow-up quickly on the previous pricing discussion. Just to be clear, the level of pricing you took earlier this year, did that contemplate the level of inflation you're currently seeing or was that related to a lower level of cost inflation?
Sorry. Chris, you want to take that?
Yes. So, when we look at our total cost of operating, we typically lock in our most material costs in the fall before the season. So, that contract is anywhere from 1 to 3 years. So, we priced on the basis of our existing contract structure. The costs that we're seeing today, particularly emerging in Q2, were really about surcharges on freight, incremental charges on ocean-going freight, as well as some commodity costs that are included in some of the smaller ingredient items that we wouldn't normally contract. We think that they're going to be very temporary in nature as like demand for wood and all that, the backup and shipping clears. But it all remains to be seen, and we can provide more insight in a few more quarters when we find out what will happen. What we can provide is all of those known costs have been included in our guidance, and we feel very comfortable with our position for the rest of 2021.
Okay. That's helpful. And I guess as a follow-up to that, if you do see a meaningful level of cost inflation persists or even accelerate over the next 6 to 12 months, what levers do you have at your disposal to offset that? Would you focus on promoting products with higher margins? Is there something else that you can maybe do to help offset that level of inflation, if it does rise?
Well, there's a number of levers that we have. We certainly can price -- everywhere in the business, if it was absolutely necessary, we would prefer to wait to determine that, that pricing or that, that movement was permanent in nature before we took that pricing to either our customers or to the consumer. But we're talking hypothetics now. And I think what we have proven over time is that as pricing evolves, we're able to pass that pricing on to our consumer and maintain our margin goals long-term. And that's what we are committed to doing through 2021 and beyond.
Got it. Okay. And then last one for me is on capital allocation. Can you just remind us what leverage level you'd be comfortable with on any M&A? And how do you think about the dividend in terms of payout ratio?
So I'll deal with easy one first. I think for the first time publicly, in my script, I talked about a 40% to 50% adjusted EBITDA or adjusted net earnings target for our dividend payout ratio. The 20% increase to the expected September distribution reflects that growth in 2021, and we would expect to continue to raise in future periods in a similar manner. From a leverage perspective, we're sitting very strongly under SKU times levered. I think we would be comfortable going up probably into the 3x levered perspective, but not too much higher than that solely to the point where we feel comfortable in that 2 to 2.5x range. So, we would look to pay that down very quickly after that acquisition so that we kind of got to that 2.5x target within a year of that acquisition. And if it was a scaled acquisition, we certainly wouldn't have any problem using equity to assist in maintaining those leverage targets and using synergies to drive value for the -- for investors.
We'll take our last question from Derek Lessard from TD Securities.
Most of my questions have definitely been asked. Maybe just one, if you might. Wondering about the success that you guys are having in terms of the new product offerings, and maybe some color on some of the newer innovations that are coming in the pipeline.
Yes, sure. Thanks for the question, Derek. We continue to be strong innovators in the category. We continue to -- strong innovation year after year and it is a prime, I would say, driver of our growth every year. We do have a growth level where we expect from innovation. So you heard me talk a few minutes ago, about some of our innovations. We're pretty excited about our apple cider vinegar gummy, our two more gummy. We've launched some new products around immunity, energy, and digestive under the Jamieson Brand, which seemed to be getting some good distribution and some strength. On our specialty brand side, we also have launched a robust list of innovations led by our progressive brand line of mushroom products, really to meet some of the needs that we talked about when we were talking about consumer trends around mindfulness, energy, stress relief, naturally, things like that. So the progressive line of mushrooms is now in market. And for the first time ever, we launched a set of new products under Iron Vegan line which is our product line that meets the plant-based needs of consumers out there in the plant-based trends. And we expanded outside of just protein and launched an energy product and a balanced product. So quite pleased with that so far and tracking towards a good year on innovation overall. Of course, also our D 2,500 that you heard me talk about that earlier. We were first to market with the first Extra Strength Vitamin D Jamieson product in the market. We did get a lot of early distribution on that. If you go into Costco, at least over the last few weeks, you'll see us in the front there of palettes Extra Strength Vitamin D and you'll see distribution of that throughout all of our retail partners across the chain here in -- across the channels here in Canada. And again, doing quite well as we've seen the resilience of vitamin D through the pandemic, strong vitamin D comps through the strong-comp period of the panic buying period of 2020 and continue to see vitamin D as one of the heroes out of this pandemic long-term in the category for sure.
We have no further question. I will hand over the call back to Mr. Pilato for any additional closing remarks. Please go ahead, sir.
Perfect. Thank you, Nora, and thank you very much, everyone, for joining us to discuss our second quarter 2021 results. As you can see, we are proud of them.At this time, I also want to take just a quick moment and recognize Jason Tafler and his contributions of our Board of Directors over the past 4 years. As you saw in the press release effective yesterday, Jason resigned his position on our Board in order to focus more time on his family's health. Jason's insight and skills, particularly in the areas of e-commerce and marketing have been invaluable to us. We continually work to strengthen our abilities in these areas. And really, we just want to say we enjoyed working with Jason very much, and we wish him and his family all the very best.I also want to thank you all again for joining us this evening. We remain very confident in our ability to continue to drive strong results through these challenging times. And really, it's behind our 100-year history, our strong industry capabilities, and our brand position in the Canadian and global vitamin, mineral, and supplement industry.We're quite proud of what we've been able to deliver through the pandemic, and we look forward to speaking with all of you on our next earning calls. I hope you all have a great evening, and thank you for your time.
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference. Thank you, everyone, for your participation. You may now disconnect.