EZCORP, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the EC Corp's second part of fiscal 2022 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a Q&A session and instructions will be followed at the time. As a reminder, this call may be recorded. I would now like to turn it over to Jean-Muriel, Investor Relations, three-part advisors. Please go ahead, Jean.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. During our prepared remarks, we will be referring to slides, which are available for viewing or download from our website at investors.easycorp.com. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this conference call, as well as the presentation slides, contain certain forward-looking statements regarding the company's expected operating and financial performance for future periods. These statements are based on the company's current expectations. Actual results for future periods may differ materially from those expressed due to a number of risks or other factors that are discussed in our annual, quarterly, and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And as noted in our presentation materials, and unless otherwise identified, results are presented on an adjusted basis to remove the effect of foreign currency fluctuations and other discrete items. Joining us on the call today is EZ Corp's Chief Executive Officer, Lockie Gibbons, and Tim Jugbins, Chief Financial Officer. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Lockie Gibbons. Lockie?

Thanks, Jane, and good morning, everyone. Our team continues to consistently execute on the strategic plan we announced to the market at the end of fiscal 2020, evidenced by another very strong quarter for financial results. Form loans outstanding, the key driver of our business, increased 38% year-over-year at its highest level ever to the second quarter. On a consolidated same-store basis, it has been within 4% of pre-pandemic levels. Building on an excellent first quarter, EBITDA was up 61% for the second quarter. We delivered very strong net income of $16.6 million, up 75% on last year. I'm also pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program of up to $50 million to be executed over the next three years. We have a robust and liquid balance sheet and are confident in our ability to continue to generate strong cash flows. We have the capacity to return cash to shareholders by buying back shares at what we believe in attractive valuation, while continuing to grow the business into significant scale. Beginning on slide three, we are a global leader in pawnbroking and pre-owned and recycled retail. We operate 1,152 stores in the US and Latin America and have strategic investments in adjacent businesses that expand our presence across the globe. On this slide, we talk about building shareholder value by satisfying the short-term cash needs of our customers with an industry-leading customer experience that is fueled by continuous innovation. We take pride in every one of our stores and have an intense focus on our people and the service they provide to our customers. We will continue with our disciplined approach to corn store acquisitions, both in the markets in which we currently operate and other advantageous regions that allow us to expand our geographic footprint. Moving to slide four, people, porn and passion is our core operating theme and has been wholeheartedly embraced by our 6,600 team members. Our diverse team drives our success and we've invested in training, incentives and cultural alignment so that we can continuously improve corporate culture and retain our best talent. We strive to be the first and best choice of our customers' porn needs. To do that, we've simplified what we're asking our store teams to do every day into four key actions. Developing our people, serving our customers, making pawn loans, and selling secondhand goods. This significant change in operating culture has been a critical component in driving our improving results. Slide five shows our progression towards our strategic goals. And once again, I'm pleased with our consistent performance here. We have invested in developing our team members, and I believe we have the most passionate, productive, committed, and motivated team in the industry. We are focused on continuing to strengthen the core porn business and are executing well on driving operational efficiencies, significant bottom line growth, and enhancing return on capital. Improving the customer experience remains a priority, and we have expanded our points-based loyalty program and online payment options for porn loans. Turning to our key financial themes for Q2 on slide six. As mentioned, PLO, the most significant driver for revenue and earnings, was up 38% year on year, leading to a 21% increase in PSC. The typical seasonal decrease in PLO was the lowest we have seen on record. Net revenue was up 14% year on year, and EBITDA was up 61%. Net income was up 75%. On slide seven, You can see the total expenses increased year over year, primarily due to increased store counts. However, as a percentage of net revenues for the last 12 months, total expenses decreased from 93% to 82%. Store expenses increased year over year with a 14% store count increase. As a percentage of net revenues, it decreased from 78% to 70%. G&A decreased. 1.4 million year-over-year, and as a percentage of net revenues, it decreased from 15% to 12%. On Flight 8, we talk about strengthening our core with a focus on people and systems. We continue to see enthusiasm and pride at all levels of the organisation, including throughout field operations, field support, and the entire support team, given it has been a difficult time for staff in general. We've added sign-on bonuses to attract new hires and added robust talent succession reviews and incentive plans to increase retention. We remain committed to diversity and inclusion initiatives and cultural transformation to ensure team members aligning to our guiding principles of leadership, customer service, accountability, respect, diversity and sustainability. Digitisation and modernisation are improving process efficiency. which is providing our customers with increased options and convenience. This is also simplifying processes for our teams in the stores. On slide nine, innovation and growth are essential to our strategy. Our EasyPlus loyalty program was launched in the U.S. and Mexico during Q1 and is now live in Guatemala. We have over 930,000 customers enrolled versus over 500,000 last quarter. Online extension payments grew to 15% in Q2, up from 13% in Q1. We are providing our customers with convenient options for both porn and layaway servicing. We received more than 6,000 Google reviews this quarter, averaging 4.8 stars in the US, and we'll be expanding Google reviews in Mexico. Customer feedback has outlined widespread appreciation for our online support enhancements and specifically live chat. Our inventory showcase continues with 183 stores in the US and 13 stores in Mexico, offering a full e-commerce experience. This helps us capture new customers as the search for certain items becomes much more convenient. Additionally, we are very excited about the addition of a Chief Marketing Officer to our team who will drive all marketing initiatives and the execution of our digital strategy. From an inorganic perspective, we opened three de novo stores in Latin America during the quarter, and acquired three stores in the Dallas area in April. We increased our stake in CCV in March and April and now own close to 41% of that business. The acquisition pipeline remains robust. We remain disciplined when evaluating opportunities and are focused on successfully integrating our recent acquisitions in an efficient and robust manner. Slide 10 outlines our ESG highlights. The core investment theme for the EasyCorp business is that we are a significant recycler of secondhand goods in the hundreds of local neighborhoods in which we operate. We have no factory distribution facilities or heavy trucking. We contribute to the circular economy by extending the useful life of and recycling millions of items. This quarter, we procured over 1.5 million pre-owned items and sold approximately 1.4 million items, ranging from consumer electrics cameras, household goods, tools, musical instruments and jewellery. We provide an essential, simple, regulated and transparent financial resource for those who are underserved by traditional sources. Diversity and inclusion remain a significant focus, and we've launched women's empowerment affinity groups in the US and Latin America. Our team members now have improved global training and development programs, as well as talent reviews and succession planning processes. For district and store managers in the US, we launched a new long-term cash incentive program to increase retention and have enhanced the incentive programs in Latin America. I would now like to turn the call over to Tim Judson, our Chief Financial Officer, to provide more details on our financial results. Tim?