American Shared Hospital Services

Good morning and welcome to the American Shared Hospital Services first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then 2. Please note that this event is being recorded. I will now turn the call to Stephanie Prince from PCG Advisory. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Anthony, and thank you to everyone joining us today. AMS's first quarter 2023 earnings press release was issued this morning before the market opened. If you need a copy, it can be accessed on the company's website at ashs.com at press releases under the investors tab. Before turning the call over to management, I would like to make the following remarks concerning forward-looking statements. Please note that various remarks that may be made on this conference call about future expectations, plans, and prospects for the company constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may vary materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those discussed in the company's filings with the SEC. This includes the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and the definitive proxy statement for the annual meeting of shareholders to be held on June 20, 2023. The company assumes no obligation to update the information contained in this conference call. I would now like to turn the call over to Ray Stachowiak, Executive Chairman of AMS. Ray?

Thank you, Stephanie, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today for our first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. I will begin with some opening remarks and then turn the call over to Peter Gaccione, American Shares recently appointed Chief Executive Officer. Bob Hyatt, our new Chief Financial Officer, will then give a financial review of our first quarter results. Following the prepared remarks, we'll open the call for your questions. Today, I'd like to start off by focusing on the expansion of our team over the last 12 months. In my mind, these are some of the final steps to be put in place in the turnaround that we've undertaken at AMS during the past couple years. Most recently, Bob Hyatt joined our team as our Chief Financial Officer in April. Bob is a seasoned financial executive who has served as CFO at both public and private companies. I believe he will make significant contributions to our growth. In the past 12 months, we've also added our new CEO, Peter Gaccione, a very well-respected executive in our industry. We also added Tim Keel as our vice president of domestic sales and business development and Ranjit Pradham as our new in-house customer advocate. He's in charge of growing our current client relationships. Ernie Bates continues to flourish in developing our international opportunities in his continuing role as Vice President of International Sales and Business Development. Craig Tagawa, our President, continues to provide very valuable contributions in the structuring and negotiation of our future orders. While these investments have currently added to our expenses, We believe that all have been necessary for future revenue growth. These investments have begun to pay off with our sales pipeline now full with numerous possibilities that are working their way through the complex sales cycle required for our product offerings. During the first quarter, we received the approvals we were waiting for to place the upgraded Gamma Knife icon in Ecuador as well as the approval for the new linear accelerator, or LINAC, for our new cancer center joint venture in Puebla, Mexico. The installation of this new LINAC has already begun, and we're excited at the expected startup of both systems during the third quarter of this year. We continue to generate strong positive cash flow during the first quarter despite its challenges. We ended the quarter with $13.2 million in cash, roughly equivalent to $2.03 per share. If we subtract that $2.03 from our recent stock price of $2.80 a share, it sure seems to me that it greatly undervalues all of our other tangible assets. Looking ahead with stronger international growth on horizon, the numerous new contract possibilities domestically and a strong financial position, we're confident that AMS is poised for new growth. I'll now turn the call over to Peter.