Aramark

Good morning and welcome to Aramark's first quarter 2020 earnings results conference call. My name is Paulette and I will be your operator for today's call. At this time, I would like to inform you that this conference is being recorded for rebroadcast and that all participants are in a listen-only mode. We will open the conference call for questions at the conclusion of the company's remarks. Rich Kotzker, Associate Vice President, Capital Markets and Investor Relations. will kick off today's call. He is standing in for Felice Casso, who is unfortunately under the weather. Mr. Kotzker, please proceed.

Thank you, and welcome to Aramark's first quarter fiscal 2020 earnings conference call and webcast. This morning, we will have the pleasure of hearing from our Chief Executive Officer, John Zilmer, as well as our new Chief Financial Officer, Tom Ondraff, who we are excited to have join us at Aramark just about four weeks ago. As a reminder, our notice regarding forward-looking statements is included in our press release this morning, which can be found on our website and in our earnings slide deck. During this call, we will be making comments that are forward-looking. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied as a result of various risks, uncertainties, and important factors, including those discussed in the risk factors, MD&A, and other sections of our annual report on Form 10-K and our SEC filings. Additionally, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. Year-over-year GAAP results include the impact of the divestiture of the healthcare technologies business that was completed in the first quarter last year, as well as some miscellaneous, unusual organizational items. A reconciliation of these items to U.S. GAAP can be found in this morning's press release, as well as on our website. With that, I will turn the call over to John.

Thank you, Rich, and good morning, everyone. I look forward to spending time with you today to share an update on the progress we are making across the company to accelerate revenue growth and unlock the economic potential of the business. As I continue my visits with our operations leaders and client partners, I am more encouraged than ever about Aramark's strong DNA. There is a unified commitment to service, quality, and innovation that is amplified by the integrity and passion of our team. This powerful mindset gives me confidence in our dynamic path forward as we create long-term value for the company and all of our stakeholders. I'm very pleased to welcome Tom Ondraff to the team as Aramark's new CFO, appointed about four weeks ago. We're extremely fortunate to have Tom, a highly seasoned food service and hospitality industry veteran, who is not only a financial expert, but also provides valued insights as a former chief development officer and chief strategy officer. In a few minutes, Tom will share his initial observations from our financial results, along with his immediate priorities. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Steve Bramlage for his numerous contributions during his five-year tenure with Aramark, as well as for providing his expertise and guidance during this transition period. We wish Steve all the best. Turning to our financial performance, the quarter materialized as expected and reflects the early actions of our reinvestment for accelerated revenue growth. While we saw organic revenue growth across all segments, there is ample opportunity ahead to drive additional performance. As we work to elevate the company's hospitality culture and drive future growth across the business, we have realigned resources, specifically in the areas of client retention, sales, marketing, finance, and human resources, to more directly support our field organization who serve our clients and end customers. Mark Bruno, a respected leader at Aramark who has been with the company 26 years after rising through the ranks, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, US Food and Facilities. As someone who originally hired Mark at Aramark, I'm very confident in his ability to inspire the teams and drive performance. In addition, Gary Crompton has returned to Aramark as President of Business Dining. Gary is a highly respected industry leader with more than two decades of prior experience with Aramark, including serving as president of business dining and healthcare hospitality. I firmly believe our leadership changes that also include the recent appointment of John Orobono to oversee our global supply chain and group purchasing organization that I mentioned on our last earnings call, combined with the talented teams already in place, create favorable catalysts for the business. We've already begun to recognize John's influence on our supply chain strategies as we implement customized and differentiated experiences for clients that complement our productivity and product quality enhancement initiatives. John and the team are actively strengthening and leveraging our global spend pools, conducting comprehensive reviews of targeted product categories, refining our broad line distribution programs, and extending our procurement scale in innovative forms, including beyond our traditional touch points. We have commenced our reinvestment in the business funded by the approximately $35 million and further synergy capture for the Avendra and Ameripride integrations. Our spend to date includes more field-based resources for new account sales efforts and client retention, as well as establishing resources to actively pursue adjacent business opportunities that further serve our clients' needs. We anticipate continuing to realign resources and add where necessary throughout the balance of the year. particularly in the second quarter, to ensure we are well positioned for the opportunities ahead. As part of our work to reignite the hospitality mindset across the portfolio, we are actively creating customized dining experiences that meet our clients' partners' unique needs and preferences. I'm very pleased with the early progress of this approach that has already resulted in several new and expanded relationships. I continue to be confident in the company's long-term prospects and In just a few short months, we've mobilized several key components of our focused plan to unlock the economic potential of the business. This approach is quickly being adopted by our sales and operations leaders. In fact, a few weeks ago, I participated in our global sales meeting. The excitement, the energy, and commitment of the team reinforced my enthusiasm in the extensive runway we have ahead. Before I turn it over to Tom, some of you have asked about our business in China, given what all of us are seeing unfold with the coronavirus. First and foremost, we are focused on ensuring the safety of our employees and the clients we serve. Broadly speaking, China represents about 2% of our total company business, primarily in healthcare, with minimal presence in the Wuhan region. We are monitoring the situation daily and we're in constant contact with our Chinese leadership team. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Tom to share his initial observations and insights on the company's financial performance.