A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc.

Good afternoon and welcome to the AMARC Precious Metals conference call for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. My name is John and I will be your operator this afternoon. Before this call, AMARC issued its results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023 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's CEO, Greg Roberts, President Thor Jerdrum, and CFO Kathleen Simpson-Taylor. Following their remarks, we will open the 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, John, and good afternoon to everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. As we reported in our earnings release, fiscal 2023 marked a record year of strong financial and operational performance for AMARC, further demonstrating the strength of AMARC's industry-leading, fully integrated precious metals platform. For the full fiscal year, we reported $156.4 million of net income and diluted EPS of $6.34 per share. Our full year gross profit grew 13% year over year, and we delivered record levels of EBITDA of $225 million and generated a 29% return on equity for the year. Our direct-to-consumer, or DTC, segment continues to contribute significantly to our overall financial performance, generating approximately 57% of our consolidated gross profit for the year. New DTC customers grew by 46% year over year, highlighting the success of our strategic acquisitions and organic customer growth, including the acquisitions of BGIC and BullionMax, which further expanded our DTC customer base. During the year, we added minority interests in UK-based Atkinson's Bullion & Coin and Texas Precious Metals to our investment portfolios. We also bolstered our minting operations by investing in the expansion of our Silvertown mint facility in Indiana, which now has the capacity to produce over 1 million ounces of fabricated silver per week. Silvertown also achieved ISO 9000 certification during the year, reaffirming the company's reputation as a leading manufacturer of quality bullion products. Now, I'll turn the call over to our CFO, Kathleen Simpson-Taylor, and she will walk you through our financials in more detail. Then, AMARC's President, Thor Gjerdrum, will discuss our key operating metrics. Afterwards, I will provide a further update on our business and growth strategy ahead as we progress into fiscal 2024. Kathleen?

Thank you, Greg, and good afternoon, everyone. Our revenues for fiscal Q4 2023 increased 51% to $3.16 billion from $2.09 billion in Q4 of last year due to an increase in gold and silver ounces sold and higher average selling prices of gold and silver. The DTC segment contributed 19% of the consolidated revenue in fiscal Q4 2023. compared to 23% in Q4 of last year. Revenue contributed by JM Bullion, JMB, represented 17% of the consolidated revenues for fiscal Q4 of 2023, compared to 21% in Q4 of last year. For the full fiscal year, our revenues increased 14% to $9.32 billion from $8.16 billion in the prior fiscal year. excluding a $1.2 billion increase in forward sales, our revenues increased by $2.6 million, driven primarily by an increase in silver ounces sold and higher average selling prices of gold, partially offset by a decrease in gold ounces sold and lower average selling prices of silver. The DTC segment contributed 21% and 26% of the consolidated revenue in fiscal year 2023 and 2022, respectively. Revenue contributed by JMV represented 19% of the consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2023 compared to 24% in the prior year. Gross profit for fiscal Q4 2023 increased 16% to $78.6 million, or 2.49% of revenue, from $67.8 million or 3.24% of revenue in Q4 of last year. The increase in gross profit was due to higher gross profits earned from the wholesale sales and ancillary services and direct-to-consumer segments. Gross profit contributed by the DGC segment represented 60% of the consolidated gross profit in fiscal Q4 2023 compared to 57% in the same year-ago period. Gross profit contributed by JMB represented 49% of the consolidated gross profit in fiscal Q4 2023 compared to 46% in Q4 of last year. For the full fiscal year, gross profit increased 13% to $294.7 million or 3.16% of revenue from $261.8 million or 3.21% of revenue in the prior fiscal year. Excluding a $1.2 billion increase in forward sales, which have a negligible impact to gross profit, the gross profit percentage increased to 4.27% from 3.79% in the prior fiscal 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 57% of the consolidated gross profit in fiscal 2023 compared to 56% in the prior fiscal year. JMB contributed 49% to the consolidated gross profit for fiscal 2023 compared with 46% in the prior year. SG&A expenses for fiscal Q4 2023 increased 10% to $22.8 million from $20.7 million in Q4 of last year. The increase was primarily due to an increase in compensation expense, including performance-based accruals of $1.3 million higher advertising costs of $1.1 million, higher information technology costs of $0.9 million, and higher consulting and professional fees of $0.4 million, partially offset by lower insurance costs of $2.1 million. For the full fiscal year, SG&A expenses increased 11% to $85.3 million from $76.6 million in fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily due to an increase in compensation expense, including performance-based accruals of $6.4 million, higher advertising costs of $3.5 million, an increase in information technology costs of $1.7 million, partially offset by a decrease in insurance costs of $1.7 million, and lower consulting and professional fees of $2 million. Depreciation and amortization expense for fiscal Q4 2023 decreased 15% to $2.7 million from $3.2 million in Q4 of last year. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in amortization of acquired intangibles related to JMB. For the full fiscal year, depreciation and amortization expense decreased 54% to $12.5 million from $27.8 million. $3 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to a $14.9 million decrease in amortization of acquired intangibles related to JMV. Interest income increased 7% to $6.1 million from $5.7 million in Q4 of last year. The increase in interest income was primarily due to higher finance product income from our wholesale sales and ancillary services segment which was partially offset by a decrease in interest income earned by our secured lending segment. For the full fiscal year, interest income increased 2% to $22.2 million from $21.8 million in fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily due to higher finance product income from our wholesale sales and ancillary services segment, partially offset by a decrease in interest income earned by our secured lending segment. Interest expense for fiscal Q4 2023 increased 57% to $8.9 million from $5.7 million in Q4 of last year. The increase in interest expense was primarily driven by a $2.4 million increase associated with our trading credit facility, primarily due to an increase in interest rates, and notes payable, including amortization of debt issuance costs In addition, a $0.8 million increase related to product financing arrangements. For the full fiscal year, interest expense increased 43% to $31.5 million from $22 million in fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily driven by $7.2 million associated with our trading credit facility, primarily due to an interest rate increase and notes payable, including amortization of debt issuance costs, $2.6 million related to product financing arrangements, and $0.6 million in interest associated with liabilities on borrowed metals. And this was partially offset by a decrease of $0.9 million of loan servicing fees. Earnings from equity method investments in Q4 2023 increased 105% to $5.3 million from $2.6 million in the same year-ago quarter. The increase reflects our new investments made during the year, as well as the higher percentage ownership in our existing equity method investments in comparison to the prior fiscal year. For the full fiscal year, earnings from equity method investments increased 82% to $12.6 million from $6.9 million in fiscal year 2022. The increase of $5.7 million was primarily due to the additional 40% ownership interest in Silver Gold Bull, which was acquired in June 2022, as well as earnings from our other equity method investments. Net income attributable to the company for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 totaled $41.8 million, or $1.71 per diluted share. This compares to net income attributable to the company of $37.3 million or $1.52 per diluted share in Q4 of last year. For the full fiscal year, net income attributable to the company totaled $156.4 million or $6.34 per diluted share. This compares to net income attributable to the company of $132.5 million or $5.45 per diluted share in the prior fiscal year. Adjusted net income before provision for income taxes, a non-GAAP financial performance measure, which excludes acquisition expenses, amortization, and depreciation for Q4 fiscal 2023, totaled $59.1 million, an increase of 17% compared to $50.6 million in the same year-ago quarter. Adjusted net income before provision for income taxes for fiscal 2023 totaled $216 million, an increase of 11% compared to $195 million in the prior fiscal year. EBITDA, a non-GAAP liquidity measure for Q4 fiscal 2023, totaled $61.8 million a 23% increase compared to $50.3 million in Q4 of fiscal 2022. EBITDA for fiscal 2023 totaled $225 million, a 16% increase compared to $193.9 million in the prior fiscal year. Turning to our balance sheet, at fiscal year end, we had $39.3 million of cash compared to $37.8 million at the end of fiscal year 2022. Our tangible net worth at the end of the fiscal year was $436.8 million, up from $321.6 million at the end of the prior fiscal year. AMARC's Board of Directors has continued to maintain the company's regular quarterly cash dividend program of $0.20 per common share. The most recent quarterly cash dividend was paid in July. The Board of Directors has also declared the next regular quarterly cash dividend, which is payable on October 24, 2023, to stockholders of record as of October 10, 2023. In addition, the Board of Directors has declared a non-recurring special cash dividend of $1 per common share, which will be paid on September 26, 2023, to stockholders of record as of September 12, 2023. That completes my financial summary. Now I will turn the call over to Thor, who will provide an update on our key operating metrics. Thor?