Sadot Group Inc.

Welcome to the Sadat Group Inc. Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded and all participants will be in listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, we will take questions. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Frank Pogubila, Sadat Group Inc.' 's Investor Relations Contact.

Before we get started, we would like to state that this call may include forward-looking statements pursuant to the State Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. To the extent that the information presented on this call discusses financial projections, information or expectations about the business plans, results of operations, products or markets, or otherwise make statements about future events, such statements may be forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as should, may, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, projects, forecasts, expects, plans, and proposes. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading Risk Factors in Sadat Group Inc.' 's most recently filed Form 10-Q and elsewhere in documents that Sadat Group Inc. files from time to time with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are contained, and Sadat Group Inc. does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements except as may be required by law. For this call, all numbers disclosed have been rounded to the closest 100,000 unless under a million, and percentages have been rounded to the closest percent unless otherwise noted. All numbers disclosed in this report are the amounts attributable to Sadat Group Inc. and exclude the portion related to non-controlling interests. On this call, we will refer to Sadat Group Inc. as Sadat Group, Sadat, or the company. With me on the call today are Sadat Group's Chief Executive Officer Michael Roper and Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Black. Michael and Jennifer will be presenting prepared remarks related to Sadat Group's financials filed on August 13, 2024, and those documents may be found on the company's website Newswire feeds and on the SEC's website link from Sadat Group's website at www.sadatgroupinc.com under the investor tab. At this point, I would like to turn it over to Sadat CEO Michael Roper. Michael.

Thanks Frank. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today as we present the results of our second quarter. I'm extremely proud to announce that Sadat Group reported the best quarter and six-month year-to-date performance in our company's history, delivering significant positive net income and notable improvements in our financial position. This record-breaking performance underscores our resilience and commitment to operational excellence as we execute against our strategic vision. Importantly, we consider ourselves to be in the early stages of our growth strategy as an emerging entity in the almost $2 trillion agro commodities market. As we focus on driving change in the company's business model and transitioning the company into a larger player in the global agro commodities market, we believe we are starting to see these efforts reflected in our overall results. For the second quarter, consolidated revenues increased 9% to $175 million, driven by Sadat AgriFoods. Net income of $2.4 million exceeded the $190,000 we reported in Q2 2023. Additionally, our 2024 year-to-date cumulative net income is a positive $2 million, compared to a net loss of $876,000 for the same period in 2023. Jennifer will discuss the financials in further detail shortly. Overall market conditions in the agri-commodity sector started to improve in Q2 following a challenging Q1. Importantly, even though China demand remains a headwind as they focus on domestic production, the company was able to shift to other markets to drive growth, which helped drive the $76 million revenue increase from Q1. Combined with our corporate strategic growth initiatives and strong execution, this significantly contributed to our Q2 results. In addition to the growth potential within the global agri-commodity market, we believe several powerful industry trends are converging to support Sadat Group's strategic initiatives and long-term success. First and foremost, the growing global demand for agricultural commodities is expected to be a crucial driver. Rising population, increased urbanization, and evolving dietary preferences are all contributing to heightened consumption of food and feed products worldwide. We believe this dynamic creates a favorable backdrop for companies like Sadat Group that are positioned to efficiently originate trade and distribute essential agro commodities. Secondly, the heightened emphasis on food security and sustainability represents a substantial opportunity for Sadat Group. Governments and international organizations are prioritizing initiatives to ensure stable food supplies and mitigate supply chain risks, areas where our vertically integrated business model featuring both trading and farming operations provides distinct advantages. And finally, the ongoing consolidation and diversification trends within the agri-commodity sector present exciting inorganic growth opportunities for Sadat Group. As industry players seek to expand their geographic reach, product offerings, and value chain integration, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on strategic acquisitions and partnerships that can further strengthen our market position. By proactively aligning our business model and growth initiatives with these powerful industry drivers, Sadat Group is poised to pursue its position as a leading global player in the dynamic and essential agri-commodity market. To capture a greater share of this market opportunity, we are strategically expanding our operations into key supply chain verticals, including farming, origination, and trading. Longer term, we also see significant potential for expansion into other verticals, such as shipping, logistics, processing, and distribution. The formation of Sadat Brazil, and more recently, Sadat Canada, are a direct reflection of this strategy. Both of these new subsidiaries complement our existing operating centers in Miami, Singapore, Dubai, and Kiev. We remain actively engaged in expanding our global platform and continue exploring further regional expansion opportunities. At the beginning of August, we announced the key leadership appointments for our newly formed Canadian operation. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome both David Hanna as Executive Vice President, General Manager, and Jaime Ruida as Vice President, Head of Feed Ingredients for Sadat Canada to the Sadat team. Their extensive experience and deep knowledge of the agri-commodity markets make them invaluable additions to the company. Their combined leadership alongside the professional and dedicated management and team members in Miami, Brazil and Dubai will be instrumental in advancing Sadat's global growth agenda by working together to expand trade flows globally. Next, let's discuss the farm operations. Our farm operations serve as an integral part of the total food supply chain operation. Importantly, from an agro-commodity trading perspective, the farm crop allows the company to trade year-round, with the underlying commodity as collateral in case the market turns negative, helping to insulate us from market fluctuations. Increasing our farming capabilities in strategic locations worldwide will continue to be an important focus point for the company, allowing us to expand our trading, food security, and community impact endeavors around these farms. Regarding our legacy restaurant business, as we've been actively pursuing the divestiture of these non-core assets to focus on our agro-commodity origination training and shipping and farming, The company is engaged with numerous potential buyers, resulting in the recently announced sale of Superfit Foods. This transaction is the first of three restaurant concepts to be sold from our portfolio and is the first step in our overall strategic plan to exit the restaurant business. We expect the divestiture of these non-core assets to drive operational savings and simplification. This will ensure our resources are firmly aligned around the company's highest potential opportunities in the agro-commodities market. Regarding Muscle Maker Grill restaurants, we have recently completed the process of converting corporate owned and operated Muscle Maker Grill locations to franchise locations. We believe this concept is now positioned to potentially attract a wider base of interested parties. For Pokemoto, this likely will be the largest transaction of the three concepts and we are in negotiations and detailed discussions with several groups for the sale of our Pokemoto concept of which there is no guarantee. As the sale of each concept occurs, we expect to reduce G&A expenses, potentially enhancing the bottom line while simultaneously generating cash flow into the business. Now I'd like to turn the call over to our CFO, Jennifer Black, to review more specifics of the financial performance of the company for the second quarter of 2024. Jennifer?