Dole plc (NYSE:DOLE) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Johan Linden: The beauty for us is that if the worst comes to pass and there is a very dramatic decrease in volumes, we have a diversification both when it comes to our sourcing network and how our shipping is set up that we will be able to handle that better than the industry in general. So we don’t believe it will have a big hit if it come to that for us.

Christopher Barnes: Okay, that’s helpful. Thanks. And then one last follow-up. Like the gross debt reduction this quarter was nice to see. Like how much further like you expect to be able to reduce debt over the balance of the year just as a result of like just organic cash flow as well as like non-core asset sales? Obviously, the timing of the Fresh Vegetable business is out of your control. So I’m just trying to understand like what within your control you can do to continue reducing debt? Thanks.

Jacinta Devine: So for the balance of the year, we would hope to have a working capital inflow similar to last year and asset sales, we do anticipate asset sales, but I suppose it could be difficult to predict the exact timing of those. So we’d be expecting to come in somewhere in the range of around 950 to 970 something like that, towards the end of the year. But look, it’s difficult to predict, particularly with the working capital movements, but we’re pleased with the progress we’ve made so far this year in that regard.

Christopher Barnes: Great. Thanks very much. I’ll pass it on.

Johan Linden: Thanks, Christopher.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] We have our next question from Bryan Spillane from Bank of America. Your line is now open.

Bryan Spillane: Thanks, operator. Good morning, everyone. Jacinta, I wanted to just pick up maybe on that last question with regards to cash flow and free cash flow. If we look at the first half, we’ve got EBITDA up pretty meaningfully and we actually have cash from operations down pretty meaningfully. Free cash flow conversion and net income is like 14%, the conversion from EBITDA pretty low. So I guess few questions. You just mentioned you expect some working capital improvements in the back half of the year, but maybe more broadly, can you just give us some guide posts on how we should think about free cash flow as a percentage of EBITDA or net income, just what the — what’s the normal free cash flow conversion in this business? Just simply because it’s very erratic, it’s moved around a lot. And just trying to get a level set as we kind of work through our DCF models, how we should really think — thinking about cash flows.

Jacinta Devine: Yeah, it is difficult to predict, with our large turnover, we obviously can have significant working capital movements. So the impact in the year-to-date is very much normal, it’s seasonal. We’re actually, despite the outflow in working capital, where in the six months, we’re actually pleased because that reflects a reduction in inventories, which you might recall from last year, we had increased our inventories. The defense mechanism against supply chain disruptions. So overall, that working capital movement is positive for us at this time of the year. And very really challenging to be honest to answer more comprehensively than that. All I can say is, we’re working hard to manage our working capital, but obviously with higher prices and managing that can impact the gross amount of working capital.

But anyway and that’s of course ignoring the Fresh Veg transaction, which will obviously change our cash flow significantly if we complete that at the end of the year.