Orbital Energy Group, Inc.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Orbital Energy Group first quarter 2022 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow management's remarks. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. John Weisler, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Moira. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Orbital Energy Group's first quarter 2022 conference call. Earlier this morning, the company issued a press release for its first quarter 2022 earnings results. The copy of this release is available in the newsroom under the investor relations section of the Orbital Energy Group website. Speaking on today's call are Jim O'Neill, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Nick Greinstaff, Chief Financial Officer. Today, management will review the highlights and financial results for the first quarter, as well as recent developments. Following the formal remarks, management will answer questions. I would also like to remind everyone that today's call will contain certain forward-looking statements made under the Securities Act of 1933 and Security and Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from those projected into the forward-looking statements. The company may experience significant fluctuations in future operating results due to a number of economic, competitive, and other factors such as COVID-19, the company's reliance on third-party manufacturers, supply and service providers, government agency, budgetary and political constraints, new increased competition, changes in the market, demand, and the performance or liability of its products, integrated solutions, and services. These factors and others can cause operating results to vary significantly from those in prior periods and to those projected in the forward-looking statements. Additional information with respect to these and other factors which could materially affect the company and its operations are included in certain forms the company has filed with the Security and Exchange Commission. These forward statements are based on information available to Orbital Energy Group as of today, May 16, 2022. and the company assumes no obligation to update statements as circumstances change. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Jim O'Neill, Vice Chairman and CEO of Orbital Energy. Jim, please go ahead.

Thank you, John. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Orbital Energy Group's first quarter 2022 results and our outlook for the rest of the year. Before I begin with my quarterly commentary, I want to thank our employees for the safe and efficient delivery of services to our customers. Each of our employees represent the OEG brand, and their efforts are recognized and very much appreciated. Now to the developments of the first quarter. We continue to make progress towards building our infrastructure strategy across our three operating segments, serving the electric power, telecommunications, and renewable industries. This morning, we reported first quarter results that demonstrate we're off to a great start this year with record quarterly revenues of $70.3 million. Backlog at the end of the quarter was $513.5 million, which we believe reflects a continued advancement of our long-term growth strategies. We continue to see opportunities for multi-year growth across our service lines, driven by our solutions-based approach and the growth of spending with existing and new customers. Most importantly, OEG achieved positive adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, of $3.8 million in the first quarter of 2022. This milestone is a first since I've been with the company, and we believe a significant indicator of our steady progress towards improving shareholder value. Our electric power segment delivered a 70% increase in revenues in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of last year. This growth is attributed to the ongoing demand for our electric power and substation services, primarily driven by our investor-owned utility customers, and a very robust market environment which we believe will not subside for the foreseeable future. Our telecommunications segment also increased revenues 24% in the first quarter over prior quarter. Factors contributing to this growth included a significant increase in the ramp in RDOC program construction on previously awarded projects by Charter and TEC over a five-state area, as well as an increase in construction revenues associated with broadband deployments by other customers. The outlook for our telecommunications segment is also very positive as we believe that fiber deployment to rural America as well as broadband and wireless infrastructure upgrades necessary to enhance 4G, LTE, and the continued rollout of 5G spectrum will increase the need for our services for many years to come. In the first quarter, the telecommunications segment completed the acquisition of Coax Fiber Solutions LLC, or CFS, which, while not a material event to the company, is nonetheless an important strategic acquisition to enhance our capabilities with customers. CFS is an outside plant contractor specializing in the aerial and underground coax and fiber installation. CFS was a strategic play to enhance our future position with at least two telecommunication customers, and we expect to begin realizing the benefits of this acquisition later this year or in 2023. And lastly, our renewable division, underperformed during the quarter, largely due to civil construction delays and the inefficiencies caused by persistent rainfall on the Blackberry Utility Scale solar project located outside of Montgomery, Alabama. Mitigation plans are in place to get this project back on track, which we include organizational changes that were made subsequent to the quarter end. As we continue to position Orbital Solar for future success, Robert Burns, a seasoned proven professional in the utility-scale solar industry, joined the company as Orbital Solar's president. In addition, Mike McCracken's current role as GTS's CEO expanded to include Orbital Solar's CEO. I'm confident that the addition of Robert and Mike in their new roles will greatly enhance OSS's success in the renewable infrastructure business going forward. On a consolidated basis, OEG exceeded our financial expectations of break-even EBITDA for the first quarter of 2022. Our outlook for the remainder of this year remains unchanged. We are reconfirming our revenue and EBITDA guidance for the full year of 2022, which is a revenue range of $375 to $425 million and an adjusted EBITDA range of $38 million to $43 million. The outlook for our services in the electric power and telecommunications segments continues to strengthen, despite supply chain challenges, fuel costs, the recent changes in the state of the U.S. economy and in the world. Numerous multi-year drivers exist today that will drive an increasing need for our infrastructure services to upgrade and expand the nation's electric power and telecommunications infrastructure. These drivers include aging infrastructure, storm hardening of infrastructure, reconfiguring the electric grid from traditional sources of fossil fuel to renewable generation, shifting population centers, the nation's move toward electrification, which includes electric vehicles, smart grid and smart city deployment, the enhancement of 4G LTE spectrum, and the rollout of the 5G spectrum. Our renewable segment, specifically the outlook for utility-scale solar awards, and additional construction revenue to fill the uncommitted revenue forecast in our guidance remains viable, despite headwinds from supply chain and potential tariff increases on solar panels manufactured abroad. Most of the opportunity pipeline we are reviewing with clients have secured panels and are sourcing from U.S. manufacturers, and we believe it is still likely we will receive additional project awards that will move toward construction this year. Now, a quick update on our discontinued operations. Last week, we announced the sale of OEG's UK gas business, Orbital Gas Systems Limited to InZero Group Limited. We are pleased this transaction is concluded, and we have achieved yet another milestone in our infrastructure strategy transition. We are currently under an exclusive LOI with a potential acquirer for our Orbital Gas U.S. operations, which we hope to finalize in the next several months. Now I will turn the call over to Nick Ronstaff, our CFO, for his comments on the quarter and our 2022 outlook. Nick?