Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.

Good morning and welcome to Alliance Data's second quarter 2019 earnings conference call. At this time, all parties have been placed on a listen-only mode. Following today's presentation, the floor will be open for your questions. To ask a question, press star 1. To withdraw your question, press the pound key. In order to view the company's presentation on the website, please remember to turn off the pop-up blocker on your computer. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms. Vicki Mackler. of Advisory Partners. Ma'am, the floor is yours.

Thank you, operator. By now, you should have received a copy of the company's second quarter 2019 earnings release. If you haven't, please call Advisory Partners at 212-750-5800. On the call today, we have Robert Minicucci, Board Chairman of Alliance Data, Melissa Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Data, Tim King, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Alliance Data, and Charles Horne, Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman of Alliance Data. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that some of the comments made on today's call and some of the responses to your questions may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to the risks and the uncertainties described in the company's earnings release and other filings with the SEC. Alliance Data has no obligation to update the information presented on the call. Also on today's call, our speakers will reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe will provide useful information for investors. Reconciliation of those measures to GAAP will be posted on the Investor Relations website at alliancedata.com. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Robert Minicucci. Robert?

Good morning, all. I won't repeat the management introductions as it has just been affected. So, let me say a few words regarding the company's strategic direction and the related organizational changes announced last month. As discussed on previous earnings calls, over the last 18 months, the Board and management together conducted a comprehensive strategic review of the company, its component businesses, and its go-forward strategy. Through that process, a number of steps were identified, including the sale of the Epsilon business and other initiatives, designed in each case to simplify the Alliance data narrative, and more importantly, focus capital and effort on the card services business. That business comprises both the company's highest earnings and highest growth assets. Previously, Ed Heffernan had led the company through the strategic review process and implementation of these initiatives, some of which have been completed. of which are in flight and progressing as expected. Ed's leadership on these transformative projects was invaluable and his departure was part of the succession plan implemented in connection with the company's new strategic direction. The board extends its sincere thanks to Ed for his outstanding services. So we begin a new chapter in the company's leadership. It's aligned with our card services focus. Our new president and CEO, Melissa Miller, joins us from the card services business, which she successfully led as president for the last eight years. Our new CFO, Tim King, also comes to his role from card services, where he served as CFO for the past seven years. Given their respective backgrounds and Alliance data's strategic direction, the board believes Melissa and Tim are ideally suited to lead the company, and we have every confidence in their ability to take Alliance data to new levels of success. Finally, Our former CFO, Charles Horn, has taken on a new role as vice chairman. In this capacity, he will oversee on an interim basis a number of transitions at the company resulting from the Epsilon transaction, including ongoing cost reductions and other board initiatives. I'll now ask Melissa to provide some introductory remarks.