PriceSmart, Inc.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to PriceSmart, Inc.' 's Earnings Release Conference Call for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, which ended on February 28, 2023. After remarks from our company's representatives, Robert Price, Interim Chief Executive Officer, and Michael McCleary, Chief Financial Officer, you will be given an opportunity to ask questions as time permits. As a reminder, this conference call is limited to one hour and is being recorded today, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. A digital replay will be available following the conclusion of today's conference call through April 18, 2023, by dialing 1-877-344-7529 for domestic callers or 1-412-317 0088 for international callers and by entering the replay access code 6733003. For opening remarks, I would like to turn the call over to Pricemart's Chief Financial Officer, Michael McCleary. Please proceed, sir.

Thank you, operator. and welcome to the PriceMart earnings call for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 that ended on February 28, 2023. We will be discussing the information that we provided in our earnings press release and our 10Q, which were both released yesterday afternoon, April 10, 2023. You can find these documents on our investor relations website at investors.pricemart.com, where you can also sign up for email alerts. As a reminder, all statements made on this conference call, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements concerning the company's anticipated plans, revenues, and related matters. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements containing the words expect, believe, plan, will, may, should, estimate, and similar expressions. All forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions as of today, April 11, 2023. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. including the risks detailed in the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K, the quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed yesterday, and other filings with the SEC which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. These risks may be updated from time to time. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements made during this call. Now I will turn the call over to Robert Price, Price Mart's Interim Chief Executive Officer.

I want to begin by thanking our management team and all of our over 10,000 PriceMart employees for their dedication and many contributions to our company's progress. Our financial results for the second quarter and first six months of fiscal 2023 have been highlighted by solid sales and earnings growth, improved inventory turns, and a strong balance sheet. Our focus continues to be on the basics. Inventory flow, in-stock position, new products, expenses, sales on PriceSmart.com, improvements to our warehouse club locations, identifying opportunities for new locations, and investing in efficiencies driven by improved processes and technology. Speaking to technology, I am pleased to announce that we have engaged Wayne Sadden as a consultant to support our information technology function, reporting to our Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff. Wayne will be working with our team in identifying opportunities to continue optimizing and transforming how we deliver on our value proposition and how we leverage technology to drive business process improvement and enhance the member experience. Since December of 2022, I have taken a more active management role, while officially taking on the interim CEO position in early February. My takeaways from these past few months include my appreciation for the way in which our management team is taking responsibility for its various areas of responsibility. My other main takeaway is how much opportunity we continue to have to grow our business in a healthy way for the long-term benefit of our members, our employees, our shareholders, and for the communities in which we do business. For me personally, I am grateful to be leading a company that does so much for so many people.