Avantor, Inc.

Good morning, my name is Harry and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Avantor's third quarter 2022 earnings results conference call. To ask a question during the Q&A, please dial staff1 on your telephone keypad. I'd now like to turn the call over to Christina Jones, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mrs. Jones, you may begin the conference.

Good morning. Thank you for joining us. Our speakers today are Michael Stubblefield, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Tom Flozek, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The press release and a presentation accompanying this call are available on our investor relations website at ir.avantoursciences.com. A replay of this webcast will also be made available on our website after the call. Following our prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions. During this call, we will be making some forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding events or developments that we believe or anticipate may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in our SEC filings. Actual results might differ materially from any forward-looking statement that we make today. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. We do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or other developments. This call will include a discussion of non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures can be found in the supplemental disclosures package on our IR website. With that, I will now turn the call over to Michael.

Thank you, CJ, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you joining us today. I'm starting on slide three. As noted in the press release that went out earlier this morning, our third quarter financial results came in modestly ahead of the updated guidance provided in early September, driven primarily by the ongoing strength of our core business. In the quarter, we realized core organic revenue growth of 7.8%, led by strong performance in biopharma and advanced technologies and applied materials. Within biopharma, our bioproduction business remains strong, delivering approximately 30% core organic revenue growth. We expanded adjusted EBITDA margin by more than 100 basis points, reflecting contributions from our 2021 acquisitions, the favorable impact from growth of proprietary products, and our sustained focus on commercial excellence. Through the first three quarters of the year, our core organic revenue growth of 7%, and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 130 basis points exceed our long-term targets, and our free cash flow has facilitated over $800 million in net debt reduction. We remain focused on executing our long-term growth strategy, including advancing a robust innovation pipeline, investing in our manufacturing and distribution capacity, and leveraging the Avantor business system to enhance the performance of our business. During the quarter, we had multiple new product launches to support nucleic acid, mRNA, and cell and gene therapy workflows, including cell lysis and viral inactivation solutions, and multicompendial synthetic cholesterol. We also entered the final validation phase for the hydration expansion at our Aurora, Ohio facility to support our bioproduction customers with ready-to-use buffer management solutions. Additionally, we completed construction and produced the first batch from our new CGMP manufacturing hub in Singapore. Looking ahead, we are updating our full year outlook to reflect our third quarter performance. $400 million of expected revenue from our 2021 acquisitions and current market conditions. I will take you through our updated guidance later in the call. Regarding capital allocation, we are concentrating our near-term M&A efforts on improving the performance of recent acquisitions. Also, In this macro environment, we think it is prudent to use our available free cash flow to reduce debt. We exited the third quarter with adjusted net leverage of 3.6 times, down from 4.2 times at the beginning of the year, and will continue to prioritize our strong free cash flows for deleveraging our balance sheet. We remain focused on execution and are confident in our ability to navigate through the current environment, drive our long-term growth strategy, and continue to build momentum across our core business. as we transition into a post-COVID environment and beyond. With that, let me turn it over to Tom to walk you through our financial results in more detail.