TAP
#Thanks, <UNK>.
<UNK>, do you want.
I would say largely in the business, it was planned.
I would say in the US we're probably stepping it up even a little more than we originally planned, given some of the activities that we want to do, <UNK>.
But broadly I would say it was in line.
Yes, I think that's fair, <UNK>.
And obviously as we have seen a little bit of benefit come through on the COGS line and in the US, it has given us the opportunity to make some choices.
And we're making the right choice, which is to further invest behind our brand portfolio because we are very clear we want to get the business really playing to win in the US.
We're in a position where we can make those choices.
And I think the right choices for long-term health of our broad business.
Let me give you a couple headlines.
Both Alan and I have been working very hard from a recruitment perspective.
We've made good progress.
We're both delighted with the way that <UNK> has landed within the business on an interim basis and the way the team have rallied behind him, and the changes that he has already implemented in the business.
So I'm confident we should be in a position, certainly in the near term, to start to really confirm how we're going to move forward on a permanent basis.
So more to follow, but as I'm sure you'd expect, I'm not going to start getting into people's career developments on a call like this, <UNK>.
But making good progress overall.
<UNK>ert, I don't think my answer is going to be any different, other than that we have a clear pricing strategy that we're not going to share publicly.
That's about all I'm prepared to say on that particular topic.
We are not 100% national, no.
But we are on track with the plan that we have been place for that rollout.
And so far we are pleased with it, <UNK>ert.
Thanks, <UNK>ert.
Thanks.
<UNK>, do you want me to take the second one.
<UNK>.
Yes, do you want to take the second one first and then we'll come back on the (multiple speakers) question.
I take issue with one thing you said there, <UNK>, because under Tom's leadership we actually expanded our operating margins almost double since the beginning of the joint venture.
So I think we've been pretty successful from that perspective.
From a portfolio transformation point of view, I would say we've made really nice progress under his leadership, as well.
We're going to continue to focus on transforming our portfolio.
We need to take share of the American light lagers segment.
We need to continue to premiumize the portfolio and develop the above-premium offerings.
And we're working very hard at that.
And I think we've make good progress.
And I'm going to continue to focus on that in a very deliberate focused and bold way.
There has been no update to the guidance that was previously given, <UNK>.
I think (technical difficulties) to add to <UNK>'s comments, I think we've been very clear about the three priorities within the business.
A lot of that continues the good work that Tom and the team did and looks to accelerate that over the course of the life of our long-range plan.
So with regard to the other question, obviously all of that information is in our filings from late 2007 and mid-2008.
As to the opportunity, and clearly it's purely speculative, [were it] to rise for us to secure a bigger share of the joint venture within the US, there is a right of first offer and last offer, and some other associated rights.
But the detail behind that is in the public filings, which I refer you to rather than getting into them on this call.
Thanks for your questions.
Hi <UNK>.
I think what I said, <UNK>, was that if you had to apply foreign exchange rates at the end of July to our results for the second half of last year, it would have reduced our underlying pretax earnings by more than $43 million.
And so if you add on to that the actual foreign exchange impact in the first half of this year of about $27 million, the impact would be more than $70 million year over year.
(Multiple speakers) said last time.
I'm not sure I would characterize it like that, <UNK>.
I think we are pleased with our overall performance in Europe.
And as I mentioned, if you reverse out the loss of the Modelo brands, our shares increased slightly.
And certainly the last couple of months through June and July, and you've heard me mention our July STRs, we've seen relatively strong volume growth.
So that's encouraging.
But clearly we're right in the middle of peak selling season at the moment and we are up against the impact of the floods from last year.
So there's still a lot of volatility in the marketplace.
So I don't think we're in a different place than what we assumed.
And certainly within Canada, <UNK> has been very clear that stripping out the loss of the Miller brands, the couple of areas that we will look at fixing as we go through the second half of this year are the volume impact as we have adjusted pricing in Quebec on Coors Light, and just a couple of trading tactics as well.
But strategically I feel we are exactly where we anticipated being.
But this is always a game of strategy and tactics, and a couple of our tactics we will adjust as we go through the second half.
I think the critical thing is, back to your first question on FX.
We're looking at $70 million FX headwind as we've flagged.
We've also flagged a $40 million on the contract losses.
And we've and very clear that with the strength of our pricing that we've seen in the first half it's given us some options to invest incrementally in the second half to further strengthen our brand portfolio.
That's what has happened and will be happening as we go through the second half of the year.
Thanks <UNK>.
I'd like to thank everybody for their time for joining us on the Molson Coors Q2 earnings call.
And as I mentioned earlier, hopefully we'll see many of you at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples conference in Boston September 10.
So thank you for your time and interest in our Company, and look forward to catching up with you in due course.
Thanks, everybody.
