AptarGroup, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to APTA's 2024 Second Quarter Conference Call. At this time, all participants are enlisted in learning mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session. Introducing today's conference call is Mrs. Mary Scafidas, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Hello, everyone, and thanks for being with us today. Joining me on the call are Stefan Tanda, President and CEO, and Bob Kuhn, Executive Vice President and CFO. A press release and accompanying slide deck have been posted on our website. If you are following along on our website, you can advance the slides by hovering over the presentation screen and clicking on the arrows on the right and left. As always, we will also post a replay of this call on our website. Today's call includes some forward-looking statements. Please refer to our SEC filings to review factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we are discussing today. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Stefan.

Thank you, Mary, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us on the call today. I will begin my remarks by highlighting our second quarter results. Later in the call, Bob Kuhn, our CFO, will provide additional details on key drivers for the quarter. Starting on slide three, for the second quarter, I'm pleased to report that AFTA achieved core sales growth of 3% and delivered adjusted EPS of $1.37 per share, a 12% increase over the prior year quarter. We grew adjusted EPS double digits for the first half of the year and in the quarter. Additionally, due to our confidence in our performance, we recently raised the dividend by approximately 10% on top of an almost 8% increase last year. The positive results in the quarter were driven by strong demand for our pharma proprietary drug delivery systems, as well as continued broad-based margin improvement. Our pharma segment continued to see healthy demand for our proprietary drug delivery systems, with 7% core sales growth in the quarter, following more than 13% core sales growth in the second quarter of 2023. Additionally, proprietary drug delivery systems had double-digit growth in the quarter on top of growing more than 30% in the prior year quarter. One of the key drivers for this quarter was our drug delivery systems used for central nervous system drugs. Over the last decade, we have seen a growing number of pharma companies repurposing drugs from injectable to nasal delivery. This spans from emergency medicines used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose to nasal treatments for migraines, depression, and epilepsy. The wider benefits of nasally-delivered medications, such as over-the-counter nasal sprays, have come to light even more in a new study. According to the July 2024 study funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, nasal sprays such as Vicks First Defense, the gel-based nasal spray featuring our nasal pump that was used in the study, We are shown to reduce the severity of cold and flu symptoms, decrease the frequency and duration of respiratory infections, as well as limit the need for antibiotics in at-risk patients. This report is timely also in light of the most recent surge of COVID cases spreading in the U.S. In addition to our proprietary drug delivery systems, we have also built a suite of service and digital offerings. These include formulation development support, analytical testing, human factors testing, generating patient insights, regulatory support, digital health, and drug lifecycle management, all to help our pharmaceutical customers bring their drugs to market successfully. We are focused on improving the patient experiences and helping them successfully administer the therapies. Now moving to injectables, sales declined when compared to prior year quarter as sales normalized following last year's strong second quarter catch-up from the ERP implementation in the first quarter of 2023. Our pipeline of elastomeric components is growing nicely, especially for our higher value offerings. Both our beauty and closure segments saw volume increases. For beauty, lower tooling sales pulled down core sales growth. Beauty saw pockets of strength in North America, Latin America with mastiche fragrances, and broad-based demand improvement for personal care dispensers. Sales in Europe, which represent more than 50% of beauty's revenue, normalized after a period of significant growth a year ago. In terms of margins, beauty improved a full percentage point over the prior year period, while closures margins were flat due to timing of the passing on of lower resin costs. During this talking period, we have focused on improving operational leverage. Now that we are seeing progressive improvement in North American sales, we expect to benefit as volumes rebound. Before I turn the call over to Bob to share further details on Q2, I want to speak about innovation and highlight recent technology and product launches as shown on slide four. Starting with pharma, our UNIDO system is used in the US to deliver medications that treat vitamin B12 deficiency and anemia. In China, our airlift system is used for new acne medication. And in Europe, our Actifile material science technology is used for Bayer's Iberobiotics Pro. In our digital health business, Migraine Buddy is now part of our portfolio of products and is the leading headache and migraine tracking app to help users report and self-manage their migraine symptoms. We have also added two digital solutions that enable patients to track their health and share reports with their care team through our partnership with Biogen, Clio for patients with multiple sclerosis, and Physio.me for people living with neuromuscular disorders. In beauty, our pump is used for Lancôme's refillable Idone fragrance. Guerlain's first fragrance formulated without alcohol features our fragrance pump, and Neutrogena's Hydro Boost skincare product has selected our monomaterial, fully recyclable pump. In Latin America, Aptar's custom overcap made from post-consumer recycled resin, is featured on the Fragrance Kayak. Turning to closures, we have a 14-year partnership with Kraft Heinz for their Moneo brand beverage concentrate, and the rebranded packaging in the U.S. has a custom closure with our Simply Squeeze valve. Our custom flip-top closure with PCR is used on an Adidas body cleanser in China. Turning to slide five now, During the quarter, we released our 2023 Corporate Sustainability and ESG Report, which highlights our significant progress across many key areas of our sustainability strategy. We pride ourselves on continuously raising the bar on sourcing renewable energy, certifying sites as landfill-free, and developing products that are more recyclable, reusable, refillable, and incorporate more sustainable materials. In June, USA Today named APTA among America's climate leaders, and Time Magazine named us one of the world's most sustainable companies, where we are ranked number 194 out of 500 global companies. Both recognitions reflect our broad-based leadership in sustainability, transparent data reporting, and continued commitment to advancing sustainable practices. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Bob.