Inventiva S.A.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Meridian Holdings' first quarter 2026 earnings call. On today's call are William Scott, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Meridian Holdings, Rich Christensen, Chief Financial Officer of Meridian Holdings, and Zoran Milosevic, Chief Executive Officer of Meridian Bet Group, a subsidiary of Meridian Holdings. Following management's prepared remarks, we will conduct a question and answer session. At the conclusion of the call, the recording and supporting materials will be available on the Meridian Holdings Investor Relations website at www.meridian-holdings.com. As a reminder, today's call will contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements are based on various assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a complete discussion of these factors, please refer to our most recent 10-K and 10-Q filings and other public disclosures available at sec.gov. Non-GAAP financial measures will be discussed on today's call. Reconciliations to the nearest GAAP measures can be found in our earnings press release available on our investor relations website. I will now turn the call over to William Scott, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Meridian Holdings. William?

Thank you and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for our first quarter of 2026 earnings call. I begin with some context on what this quarter represents for Meridian Holdings, because I think it merits a moment of reflection before we move into the numbers. Q1 2026 is the first quarter in which we reported gap profitability under Meridian Holdings' brand. And that is not a milestone we take lightly. It reflects the collective work of every team across our 25-plus regulated markets. and it reflects the operational discipline and strategic clarity that we are committed to when we began this journey together. Now let me take you through the headline results. We delivered revenue of $15.1 million in Q1, up 17% over the same period last year, exactly in line with the guidance we issued during our Q4 2025 rolling score. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $6.3 million, representing a 12.6% margin and a 26% increase year over year. Importantly, we seeded our previously issued Adjusted EBITDA guidance of $6.1 million, which reflects both the strength in our meridian operations and our ongoing commitment to cost discipline. And we delivered net income of $2.2 million, 18 cents per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $300,000 last year. I want to be direct about what these results mean, to demonstrate that our model is working. We are growing the top line at scale, managing costs with discipline, generating profits, and continuing to fortify the balance sheet. Total debt declined 54% year over year. Net debt fell 62% year over year. Our leverage ratio now stands at just 0.53 times annualized adjusted EBITDA, the strongest capital structure since the 2024 merger. 2025 was the year we proved our operational delivery, record revenue, meaningful debt reduction, and a rebrand that positioned this company for the next chapter of its growth. 2026 is about executing against that positioning with discipline and confidence. Our priorities in 2026 remain clear and consistent. Deliver on guidance. Maintain operational discipline across every market. Continue the balance sheet trajectory we established last year. And communicate clearly with you every quarter about what the numbers mean and what drives them. Every decision we make has got a long-term shareholder value. With that, I'll turn it over to Rich to walk you through the financials in detail.

Rich? Thank you, William, and good morning, everyone. I'll walk through the first quarter results in detail, covering revenue, margins, profitability, the balance sheet, and our guidance for the second quarter of 2026. Revenue for the first quarter was 50.1 million, an increase of 7.4 million, or 17%, compared to 42.7 million in the first quarter of last year. This growth was broad-based across our portfolio, but was led by Meridian Vet, which delivered $34.9 million in the quarter, up approximately 26% over last year, and accounted for approximately 70% of total company revenue. Revenue growth was driven by continued expansion in active users and depositors, scale in our established markets across Europe and Africa, and early contributions from our Brazil operations, which launched in 2025. Gross profit reached $28.1 million for the quarter, representing a gross margin of 56.2%. This compares to gross profit of $24.2 million and gross margin of 56.6% in Q1 of 2025. Gross margin was consistent with the prior period, declining only 46 basis points, despite the evolving revenue mix, particularly with MeridianBet's high margin contributions being partially offset by the early-stage economics in our smaller markets as they begin to scale. In nominal terms, gross profit grew 16% year-over-year, reflecting a combination of strong top-line momentum and our continued focus on high-margin B2C casino and sportsbook operations. Turning to operating expenses, selling general administrative expenses were $25 million in Q1 of 2026. compared with $24.3 million in Q1 of last year. This modest increase reflects discipline expense management, even as we continue to invest in technology, regulatory compliance infrastructure, and market expansion capabilities, including our AI-powered platform investments that Zorin will speak to in more detail. Income from operations was $3.2 million for the quarter, a significant improvement from the operating loss of $0.1 million in Q1 of last year. This $3.3 million swing reflects the operating leverage inherent in our business model as we scale revenue and maintain cost discipline. Net income was $2.2 million or $0.18 per diluted share. This compares to a net loss of $300,000 or $0.02 per diluted share in Q1 of last year. This represents a return to profitability, the first of many profitable quarters under the Meridian Holdings brand, and a meaningful milestone as we demonstrate the earnings power of our scaled, diversified platform. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was 6.3 million, up 26% from 5.0 million in Q1 of 2025, and ahead of our previously issued guidance of 6.1 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.6%. representing approximately 86 basis points of margin expansion versus last year. The adjusted EBITDA outperformance was driven by the strength in MeridianBet's core operating metrics and a continued operating leverage of our B2B content business. The balance sheet continues its positive trajectory in Q1 of 2026. I'd like to highlight on a few key metrics that demonstrate the financial strength we're building. Cash and cash equivalents were $16.2 million at that quarter end. Total debt was $29.7 million, down from $34.7 million at year end 2025, and representing a 54% reduction compared to Q1 of 2025. Net debt stands at $13.4 million, a 62% reduction from last year, translating to a net debt leverage ratio of just 0.53 times annualized adjusted EBITDA. The balance sheet is in great shape and it's improving. Operating cash flow for the quarter was $5.2 million, underscoring the cash-generating nature of our business and supporting our ongoing debt reductions trajectory and reinvestment in technology and regulated market expansion. Turning to our segments, Meridian Debt Group delivered Q1 revenue of $34.9 million, up 26% year-over-year and representing 70% of total company revenue. Segment gross margin was 69.3%, reflecting the attractive unit economics of our core sports betting and online casino operations. Segment operating income grew 37% year-over-year to $6.6 million. Soren will provide more detail on Meridian Bet's operational performance in just a moment. Our R-Kings and Classics for a Cause segment delivered combined revenue of 12.1 million in the first quarter. This is up 9% from the prior year, and it represents 24% of total company revenue. At R-Kings, our UK-based pay-to-enter price competition business, revenue reached 7.7 million in Q1, up 12% year-over-year. Average order value increased 29% to $16.91, and the value for new registration improved 15% to $17.72. Metrics that speak to the improving unit economics of this business and our focus on high-value customer engagement. At Plastics for a Cause, our Australia-based subscription digital membership and trade promotion lottery platform new users rose 18% year-over-year to 9,813. Total transactions grew 12% sequentially and VIP subscriptions surpassed 10,000 for the first time in 12 months, ending Q1 at 10,750. The return of VIP subscriptions above this threshold is a strong indicator of customer loyalty and future revenue momentum. Finally, GMAG, our B2B iGaming aggregation segment, which includes Nextplay, contributed $3.1 million in revenue in the quarter, representing approximately 6% of total company revenue. While the segment's revenue declined 18% from $3.8 million in Q1 2025, we are investing in our MexPlay business, which grew 28% over the last year. MexPlay, our Mexico-facing regulated online casino, continued its impressive growth strategy. Registrations reached 74,000. up 271% year-over-year, and first-time depositors climbed 6,101, up nearly 200% over last year. These registration and conversion metrics reflect strong early market penetration and a compelling value proposition in the Mexican iGaming market. This revenue mix shift from the competitive B2B aggregation business to MexPlay revenue improves gross margin by over 5 percentage points, over last year as well. Turning to our outlook for the second quarter of 2026, we are issuing revenue guidance of 51 to 53 million, representing approximately 18 to 23% growth over Q2 of 2025's revenue of 43.2 million. This outlook reflects continued growth in core Meridian Vet operations, seasonal uplift in retail and online wagering activity, Our general confidence in underlying business fundamentals and our ability to execute against our operational priorities. We remain committed to transparent, consistent guidance, and we're pleased to enter Q2 with strong business momentum and financial flexibility to pursue the growth opportunities ahead of us. With that, I'll turn the call over to Zoran to discuss Meridian Vets operational performance.