A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc.

Good afternoon and welcome to AMARC Precious Metals conference call for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2022. My name is Jenny and I will be your operator this afternoon. Before this call, AMARC issued its results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year in a press release, which is available in the investor relations section of the company's website at www.amarc.com. You can find the link to the investor relations section at the top of the homepage. Joining us for today's call are AMARC CEO Greg Roberts, President Thor Geerdrum, and CFO Kathleen Simpson-Taylor. Following their remarks, we will open your call to your questions. Then, before we conclude the call, I'll provide the necessary cautions regarding the forward-looking statements made by management during this call. I would like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded and will be made available for replay via a link available in the investor relations section of AMARC's website. Now, I would like to turn the call over to AMARC's CEO, Mr. Greg Roberts. Sir, please proceed.

Thank you, Jenny, and good afternoon to everyone. Thank you all for joining our call today. Today we reported one of the strongest quarters in AMARC's history with $45 million of net income and diluted EPS of $1.83. As noted in our earnings release, AMARC delivered solid gross profit with a 13% sequential increase and a 79 basis point increase in our gross margin percentage. AMARC also generated a 24% increase in EBITDA and an amazing 9% quarterly return on equity. These results continue to demonstrate the strength of our business as a result of our growth strategy, which has broadened our customer base and further enhanced our fully integrated capabilities. Our direct-to-consumer or DTC segment continues to perform outstanding, contributing over half of our consolidated gross profit during the quarter. We were successful in growing our DTC customer base by an additional 49,000 new customers during the quarter to a total of 2.1 million customers. As we continue to expand our customer reach with our diversified suite of DTC brands that each target their own unique demographic customer. Continued wider premium spreads as a result of heightened demand and supply constraints drove a 9% sequential increase in gross profit and expanded our DTC gross margins by 195 basis points to 9.8% in Q1. As we recently announced, JMB closed the asset acquisition of BGSC with its over 120,000 customers and over $200 million in revenue reported in calendar 21. We have now completed the integration of BGSE as a standalone brand in our DTC segment and look forward to reporting BGSE's contribution to the segment's performance in the second quarter of fiscal 23. The JMB team is leveraging its technology and resources to capture the full potential of our new brand and to drive additional value for this business. Early indications this quarter are that BGSE is exceeding our expectations. Our minting business also remains a key driver of our performance, with production remaining at near record levels. We produced nearly 11 million ounces during the quarter, which was a 56% increase over the same quarter last year. We continue to invest in our minting operations, including our recent acquisition of Silvertown Mint's largest tooling supplier, Marksman Tool and Die, which will provide cost reductions, faster response time for repairs, and more proactive planning for our future tooling needs. We recently purchased an additional furnace to expand capacity and support double blanking operations, and we continue to evaluate the further expansion of both our minting facility and its production capabilities. Now, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Kathleen Simpson-Taylor, to walk you through our financials in more detail. Then our President, Thor Jerdrum, will discuss our operating metrics. Afterwards, I'll provide a further update, and I look forward to taking your questions. Kathleen?

Thank you, Greg, and good afternoon, everyone. Our revenues for fiscal Q1 2023 decreased 6% to $1.9 billion from $2 billion in Q1 of last year. The decrease was attributable to a decrease in gold ounces sold and lower average selling prices of gold and silver, partially offset by an increase in silver ounces sold. The DTC segment contributed 23% and 26% of the consolidated revenue in fiscal Q1 2023 and fiscal Q1 2022, respectively. Revenue contributed by JMB represented 20% of the consolidated revenues for Q1 of 2023 compared to 23% in Q1 of last year. Gross profit for fiscal Q1 2023 increased 37% to $76.6 million or 4.03% of revenue from $56 million or 2.78% of revenue in Q1 of last year. The increase in gross profit was due to higher gross profits earned from the wholesale sales and ancillary services and DTC segments. Gross profit contributed by the DTC segment represented 55% of consolidated gross profit in fiscal Q1 2023 compared to 54% in the same year-ago period. Gross profit contributed by JMB represented 48% of the consolidated gross profit in fiscal Q1 2023 compared to 44% in Q1 of last year. SG&A expenses for fiscal Q1 2023 increased 7% to $17.8 million from $16.7 million in Q1 of last year. The increase was primarily due to an increase in compensation expense, including performance-based accruals, of $1.0 million, higher advertising costs of $0.7 million, and increase in computer-related expenses of $0.2 million, partially offset by lower consulting and professional fees of $0.5 million and lower insurance costs of $0.5 million. Depreciation and amortization expense for Fiscal Q1 2023 decreased 62% to $3.2 million from $8.3 million in Q1 of last year. The decrease was primarily due to a $5.1 million decrease in amortization of acquired intangibles related to JMV. Interest income for fiscal Q1 2023 decreased 8% to $5.1 million from $5.5 million in Q1 of last year. The aggregate decrease in interest income was primarily due to lower interest income earned by our secured lending segment, and lower other finance product income. Interest expense for fiscal Q1 2023 increased 12% to $6.1 million from $5.5 million in Q1 of last fiscal year. The increase in interest expense was primarily driven by $0.5 billion associated with the company's trading credit facility and AMCF notes, including amortization of debt issuance costs $0.2 million related to product financing arrangements, $0.1 million in interest associated with liabilities on borrowed metals, and this was offset by a decrease of $0.2 million of loan servicing fees. Earnings from equity method investments in Q1 2023 increased 80% to $2.7 million from $1.5 million in the same year-ago quarter. The net increase of $1.2 million was due to increased earnings from equity method investments. Net income attributable to the company for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 totaled $45.1 million or $1.83 per diluted share. This compares to net income attributable to the company of $26 million or $1.08 per diluted share in Q1 of last year. and this was adjusted for the effect of the two-for-one stock split in June 2022. Our diluted EPS for the fiscal first quarter of 2023 is based on weighted average diluted shares outstanding of 24.7 million, compared with 24 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding during the first quarter of last year. This has been adjusted for the effect of the two-for-one stock split that occurred in June 2022. Adjusted net income before provision for income taxes, a non-GAAP financial measure which excludes acquisition expenses, amortization, and depreciation for Q1 fiscal 2023 totaled $61.3 million, an increase of 49% compared to $41.1 million in the same year-ago quarter. EBITDA, a non-GAAP liquidity measure for Q1 fiscal 2023, totaled $62.2 million, a 52% increase compared to $41 million in Q1 of fiscal 2022. Now turning to our balance sheet. At quarter end, we had $64.6 million of cash compared to $37.8 million at the end of fiscal year 2022. Our tangible net worth at the end of the quarter was $339.7 million, up from $321.6 million at the end of the prior fiscal year. And finally, as we announced in our earnings release, AMARC's Board of Directors has reaffirmed its previously announced regular quarterly dividend policy of 20 cents per common share, or 80 cents per share on an annual basis. The initial quarterly cash dividend under the policy was paid in October 2022. It is expected that the next quarterly dividend will be paid in January 2023. The declaration of regular cash dividends in the future is subject to the determination each quarter by the Board of Directors based on a number of factors, including the company's financial performance, available cash resources, cash requirements, and alternative uses of cash and applicable bank covenants. That completes my financial summary. Now I will turn the call over to Thor, who will update us on metrics. Thor?