The Andersons, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Anderson's Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you'll need to press star 1 on your telephone. As a reminder, today's program may be recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's program, John Krause, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks, Jonathan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the Anderson's third quarter 2020 earnings call. We have provided a slide presentation that will enhance today's discussion. If you're viewing this presentation via our webcast, the slides and commentary will be in sync. This webcast is being recorded, and the recording and the supporting slides will be made available on the investors' page of our website at andersonsinc.com shortly. Certain information discussed today constitutes forward-looking statements and actual results could differ materially from those presented in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including general economic conditions, weather, competitive conditions, conditions in the company's industries, both in the United States and internationally, the COVID-19 pandemic, and additional factors that are described in the company's publicly filed documents, including its 34-act filings, and the prospectuses prepared in connection with the company's offerings. Today's call includes financial information which the company's independent auditors have not completely reviewed. Although the company believes that the assumptions upon which the financial information and its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be accurate. This presentation and today's prepared remarks contain non-GAAP financial measures. The company believes that adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted pre-tax income attributable to the company, adjusted net income attributable to the company, adjusted diluted EPS, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA attributable to the company, and adjusted effective tax rate provide additional information to investors and others about its operations, allowing an evaluation of underlying operating performance and better period to period comparability. These measures do not and should not be considered as alternatives to net income or income before income taxes as determined by generally accepted accounting principles. On the call with me today are Pat Bowe, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Valentine, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. After our prepared remarks, Pat, Brian, and I will be happy to take your questions. Before Pat makes his opening comments, I want to remind you that we'll present an investor day in a virtual format on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. I want to also let you know that we have just completed a sustainability review. That document may be found in the investor section of our website. With that, Pat, the floor is yours.

Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call this morning to review our third quarter results. Three of our four business segments recorded improved year over year results. The trade business led the way by earning a much improved third quarter pre-tax profit year over year. Merchandising results and grain elevations were strong. Income earned by the group's assets was positive despite the final lingering effects of the small 2019 harvest in the east. We're seeing much improved grain production in the east this harvest. The ethanol business recorded pre-tax income that was slightly better than its third quarter of 2019. Though margins were stronger year over year, the corn futures price rally led to a large non-cash mark to market charge on our corn and DDGs that we did not face in 2019. The plant nutrient business achieved its sixth consecutive quarterly year-over-year improvement in the third quarter. Margins were up slightly on similar volumes and the business continued to manage expenses and working capital effectively. Roehl reported nearly break-even results as continued lower Roehl traffic negatively impacted lease rates. Cars in service fleet utilization and demand for rail services were all lower. A recent strategic combination of those four business segments into two groups is creating the commercial and cost synergies we anticipated. We also completed the related strategic cost takeout, which should result in run rate savings of approximately $10 million beginning early next year. We expect that these actions, along with the moves made earlier in the year, should result in more than $25 million in permanent cost reductions when comparing 2019 and 2021 results. We're continuing our evolution towards becoming a much leaner company that's poised to grow. I'm now going to turn things over to Brian, and when he's finished, I'll be back to discuss our outlook for the rest of 2020 and into 2021. Brian?