Avantor, Inc.

Good morning. My name is Emily, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Avantor's first quarter 2023 earnings results conference call. After the prepared remarks, there will be the opportunity for any questions, which you could ask by pressing start, followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. I will now 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 Slozek, 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 that 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. Our first quarter operating results were in line with our expectations, with reported revenue of $1.78 billion and adjusted EPS of 29 cents. Market dynamics played out as anticipated, including ongoing destocking of customer inventories and a downturn in semiconductor demand, resulting in a core organic revenue decline of 1.8%. We continue to leverage the Avantour business system to drive execution of our plan and enhance operational rigor and efficiency. Reflective of strong contributions from commercial excellence and productivity, adjusted EBITDA margin was 19.4% at the high end of our expectations. Also, free cash flow increased approximately 50% compared to Q1 last year, and free cash flow conversion was approximately 100% in the quarter. reflecting our focus on improving working capital performance. We also continue to make progress on our long-term strategy and are seeing the positive impact of our investments in capacity expansion, new product introductions, and digital infrastructure to support our growth. Some notable highlights for the quarter include expanding our hydration capabilities in Gliwice, Poland, and Aurora, Ohio, to provide ready-to-use buffer solutions for our bioproduction customers. Successfully launching multiple new JT Baker product lines produced at our Ritter facility in Germany. Rolling out our enhanced inventory manager digital solution, which supports our customers' needs for real-time information about their critical lab products in a user-friendly interface. And winning the Asia-Pacific Bioprocessing Excellence Award, a testament to the power of our customer-centric model. We also continue to push forward on our Science for Goodness sustainability platform and look forward to publishing our annual sustainability report later this quarter. Looking ahead, there are indications from customers that inventory health is improving. However, current run rates suggest that there is a heightened risk that destocking will extend into the second half of the year. Therefore, we think it is appropriate to reflect the risk of a more gradual return to normalized growth and are updating our full-year outlook accordingly. Tom will walk you through the details of our updated guidance in a moment. We do view the factors impacting the current operating environment as transitory and remain focused on executing our plan and taking actions to drive growth and profitability. Our long-term algorithm remains unchanged and we are confident in the resilience of our end markets and our proven business model. With that, Let me turn it over to Tom to walk you through our financial results and updated guidance in more detail.