StoneX Group Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the StoneX Group first quarter fiscal year 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Bill Dunaway, CFO. Please go ahead.

Good morning. My name is Bill Dunaway. Welcome to our earnings conference call for our first quarter ended December 31st, 2023. After the market closed yesterday, we issued a press release reporting our results for the first fiscal quarter of 2024. This release is available on our website at www.stonex.com, as well as a slide presentation, which we will refer to on this call in our discussions of our quarterly results. The presentation and an archive of the webcast will also be available on our website after the call's conclusion. Before getting underway, we're required to advise you and all participants should note that the following discussion should be taken in conjunction with the most recent financial statements and notes thereto, as well as the Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. This discussion may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which are detailed in our filings with the SEC. Although the company believes that its forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions regarding its business and future market conditions, There can be no assurances that the company's actual results will not differ materially from any results expressed or implied by the company's forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Readers are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. With that, I will now turn the call over to Sean O'Connor, the company's CEO.

Thanks, Bill. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our fiscal 2024 first quarter earnings call. The first quarter of fiscal 24 was a strong result for us, with earnings up 30% and EPS up 28% when excluding the one off acquisition gain we realized in the prior period. This represents a 20.5% ROE on tangible book and a 19.3% ROE on stated book. Both measures continue to be well ahead of our long-term 15% target. We are pleased to see that our business continues to generate superior long-term returns for our shareholders, despite moderating market volatility. Turning to slide three in the earnings deck, which compares quarterly operating revenues by product versus a year ago. In aggregate, operating revenues were up 20%, with all products showing strong gains in revenues, except physical contracts, which was down 14%. We experienced robust volume growth in listed and OTC derivatives, as well as securities. Payments volumes were flat with the prior year, while FX and CFD volumes declined. On the revenue capture side, it was more of a mixed picture, reflecting a more normalized volatility environment. The standout was our FX CFD rate per million, which was up 73% due to a combination of strong results this quarter and a difficult trading environment a year ago. Securities related operating revenues were up 35%, although this number is somewhat distorted due to much higher interest rates in our fixed income business. Carried interest on our fixed income positions is reflected in operating revenues, while the offsetting interest expense to finance these positions is not. The rate per million numbers have been adjusted to reflect these offsetting expenses. Security has continued a trend of strong increases in volumes and a decrease in revenue capture as we continue to see strong growth in lower margin products. Our aggregate client floats, including both listed derivative client equity and our FDIC sweep balances, declined 26% versus record levels experienced in the prior year. Despite this, interest and fee income on these client balances increased 14%, to 98.4 million due to us capturing high interest rates in the current period. Turning now to slide four and looking at the same data over the trailing 12 months, we again see strong double-digit growth across most of our products with the exception of listed derivatives, which was essentially unchanged, and FX CFD revenues, which were down 9% versus the prior year. Again, securities-related revenues were up significantly, but part of that is due to the carried interest component I just mentioned. Volumes, which were up across the board except for FX and CFDs, are typically the most important indicator for us when it comes to measuring client engagement and market penetration. Revenue capture is largely a function of market conditions, and here again we can see a mixed picture as market volatility retraced generally to lower levels as compared to the prior year. in addition to a change in the product mix to lower margin products on the security side, which I just mentioned. Turning to slide five and a summary of our first quarter and our trailing 12-month results, we recorded operating revenues of $784.2 million, up 20% versus the prior year. Our operating revenues are boosted by interest on our client floats, and also the interest that is embedded in fixed income trading that I mentioned earlier. Net operating revenues, which nets off interest expense as well as introducing broker commissions and clearing costs, was up 10% versus a year ago and up 4% versus the immediately prior quarter. Total compensation and other expenses were up 5% for the quarter, with variable compensation up 3%, which is below the net operating revenue growth rate of 10%. Fixed compensation and related costs increased 20% versus a year ago, but we're down 2% compared to the immediately prior quarter. Adjusted net income, which excludes both the gain on acquisition I mentioned earlier, as well as amortization expense of intangibles acquired, was $70 million for the current period, up 27% over last year and up 34% on the immediately preceding Q4. We realized diluted EPS of $2.13 and an ROE of 19.3 on stated book. And our book has increased 56% over the last two years. On a training 12-month basis, our operating revenues were up 32% versus the prior 12-month period. And adjusted net income was $237.7 million, up 5% during the prior 12-month period. We ended the quarter with book value of 47%. $47.08, up 24% from a year ago. Turning to slide six, our segment summary, and just to touch on the highlights before Bill gets into more detail. For the quarter, segment operating revenues were up 20%, and segment income was up 25%, with good growth across all of our client segments. Our commercial client segment was up 5% in segment income, off the back of a 9% increase in operating revenues. On a sequential basis, operating revenues were down 4% and segment income was down 1%. Our institutional segment realized a 27% increase in operating revenues, which translated into a 5% increase in segment income. On a sequential basis, operating revenues were up 2% and segment income was up 19%. Retail was really the standout this quarter, with operating revenues up 31%, driven by much improved revenue capture you saw earlier. This growth in operating revenues combined with decline in fixed expenses led to $28.7 million in segment income for the current period versus a $4.2 million segment loss a year ago. On a sequential basis, operating revenues were relatively unchanged and segment income increased 2%. In our payment segments, operating revenues were up 9% and segment income was up 8%. On a sequential basis, revenues were up 12%. and segment income was up eight. On a trailing 12-month basis, we had good operating revenue gains for our commercial, institutional, and payment segments, while the retail segment operating revenues declined 11%. A similar result for segment income, with commercial segment being the standout, up 29% versus the prior year trailing 12-month period. Turning to slide seven, which sets out our trailing 12-month financial performance over the last nine quarters, These numbers have been adjusted for the accounting treatment related to the gain and CDI acquisitions as disclosed in our prior filings and which appear in the reconciliation provided in the appendix of this earnings day. On the left-hand side, the bars represent our trailing 12-month operating revenue over the last nine quarters. As you can see, this has been a smooth and strongly upward trend as we have steadily expanded our footprint and capabilities. Our operating revenues are up 75% over this period for a 32% compound average growth rate. Our adjusted pre-tax likewise has grown significantly and represents a 34% CAGR. On the right side, you can see our adjusted net income in the bars, which is up 68% over the last two years for a 29% CAGR. The dotted line represents our ROE, which has remained well above our 15% target, even though our capital has grown by 56% over this period. With that, I'll now hand you back to Bill Dunaway for a discussion of the financial results. Bill?