Caseys General Stores, Inc.

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q4 fiscal year 2022 Casey's General Store earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1 on your telephone. Please limit yourself to one question and a follow-up. If you require any further assistance, please press star 0. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mr. Chad Brunt. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss the results from our fourth quarter and fiscal year ended April 30th, 2022. I'm Chad Bruns, Senior Analyst, Investor Relations, filling in for Brian Johnson, who is under the weather. With me today are Darren Rebellas, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Steve Bramlage, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I will remind you that certain statements made by us during this investor call may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include any statements relating to expectations for future periods, possible or assumed future results of operations, financial conditions, liquidity and related sources or needs, the company's supply chain, business and integration strategies, plans and synergies, growth opportunities, performance at our stores, and the potential effects of COVID-19. There are a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the integration of the recent and pending acquisitions, our ability to execute on our strategic plan or to realize benefits from the strategic plan, the impact and duration of the conflict in Ukraine and related governmental actions, as well as other risks, uncertainties, and factors which are described in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC and available on our website. Any forward-looking statements made during this call reflect our current views as of today with respect to future events and Casey's disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. A reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures referenced in this call, as well as a detailed breakdown of the operating expense increase for the fourth quarter, can be found on our website at www.caseys.com under the Investor Relations link. With that said, I would now like to turn the call over to Darren to discuss our fourth quarter results. Darren?

Thanks, Chad, and good morning, everyone. I'm looking forward to sharing our results in a moment, but I'd like to start by thanking our 42,000 CASES team members for their tireless efforts and contribution to a fantastic fiscal year. Our team members have done an outstanding job navigating through these challenging times, and the team's ability to be nimble and perform at a high level under difficult circumstances It's something I'm especially proud of and grateful for, and we certainly would not have delivered another record year without their efforts. At Casey's, our purpose is to make life better for our communities and guests every day. As a rural Midwestern operator, we play a significant role in the towns we operate in. It is a privilege and responsibility we take to heart. Throughout the fiscal year, we have truly been here for good. We raised $1 million in funds for organizations helping veterans and our families. We raised $1 million to help local schools through our Cash for Classrooms grant program, and we enable over 5 million meals for our neighbors in need. We are here for our communities, and we want to give back to those communities and guests that support us. Now let's discuss the results of the past fiscal year. Fiscal 22 was a record year for diluted EPS, finishing at $9.10 per share, a 9% increase from the prior year. The company also generated a record $340 million in net income and $801 million in EBITDA, an increase of 11% from the prior year. Inside sales and gross profit were each up 14% versus the prior year, as guests returned to the store to buy pizza slices and items from our refreshed breakfast menu, among other Casey's favorites. Inside gross profit margins remained flat compared to the prior year, an impressive outcome given the merchandising cost pressures impacting the industry. Inside gross profit grew more than fuel gross profit in fiscal 22, a trend we expect to continue as we add kitchens to our recently acquired stores. Total fuel gallons sold increased 18% in the fiscal year. and fuel gross profit increased 22%, averaging a $0.36 per gallon margin over the course of the year, despite rising fuel prices as consumer demand improved. Free cash flow was impressive, $462 million, proving that we can grow the business while preserving the balance sheet. We closed three large strategic acquisitions that were a significant part of the 228 new units opened this year. Through these acquisitions, we have strengthened our presence in the Nebraska and Illinois markets through the Buc-ee's acquisition and acquired immediate scale in the Oklahoma City and Knoxville, Tennessee markets with the Circle K and Pilot acquisitions, respectively. These acquisitions also fit seamlessly into our existing distribution network with the addition of our third DC in Joplin, Missouri in May of 2021 and continued our expansion into the southwest portion of our footprint. We're excited about the strong progress we've made integrating all three strategic acquisitions and realized approximately $15 million in run rate synergies on the Buc-ee's acquisition this year. Casey's Rewards continues to grow and has become a significant part of our guest experience. We recently exceeded 5 million members and are poised to leverage this platform to communicate with our guests more effectively than ever. Our private brand program exited the quarter at 5% penetration of the grocery and general merchandise category. We currently offer over 250 items and are confident in our ability to achieve 6% penetration next year and our long-term goal of 10% over the next several years. I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve to discuss the fourth quarter and our outlook for fiscal 23. Steve?