CAE Inc.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the CAE third quarter conference call. Please be advised that this call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Andrew Arnovitz. You may now proceed, Mr. Arnovitz.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that today's remarks, including management's outlook for fiscal year 21 and answers to questions contained forward-looking statements These forward-looking statements represent our expectations as of today, February the 12th, 2021, and accordingly are subject to change. Such statements are based on assumptions. They may not materialize and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially, and listeners are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The description of the risks, factors, and assumptions that may affect future results is contained in the annual MD&A available on our corporate website. and on our filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators on CDAR and at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR. On the call with me this afternoon are Marc Perrin, CEE's President and Chief Executive Officer, and Sonia Branco, our Chief Financial Officer. After remarks from Marc and Sonia, we'll take questions from financial analysts and institutional investors. And following the conclusion of that Q&A period, we'll open the call to questions from members of the media. Let me now turn the call over to Mark.

Thank you, Andrew, and good afternoon to everyone joining us on the call. I'll first discuss some of the highlights of the quarter, and then Sonia will provide additional details about our financial performance. I'll come back at the end to talk about our outlook. We continue to manage well through a challenging period. CA's stronger performance in the third quarter compared to the first half of the fiscal year reflects our ability to adapt quickly to a new normal and also the resiliency of our business, which is largely recurring. On a consolidated basis, earnings per share before specific items of 22 cents was nearly 70% higher than last quarter, and we had a near five-fold increase in free cash flow to $224 million, which is indicative of the cash-generative nature of our business. We also made important progress to significantly enhance CA's position for future growth. During the quarter, we bolstered our financial resources with the issuance of $495 million of common equity, and we strengthened and expanded our market position with a succession of three acquisition announcements. In civil, revenue increased by 13 percent compared with the second quarter, driven by 50% average training center utilization and the delivery of 10 full-flight simulators. We also continued to book new orders with civil signing training solutions contracts valued at $329 million. These included three full-flight simulator sales and a five-year exclusive business aviation training agreement with Bundeswehr of Germany for the Global Vision. We also signed an exclusive training agreement with MassAir, a new cargo airline in Mexico, and we signed a five-year extension of our exclusive training agreement with Iberia to do all of their training. And finally, we signed another five-year training agreement with TUI Airways, a British charter airline, and an exclusive two-year pilot training agreement with Lotz Polish Airlines on a broad range of aircraft platforms. In defense, Revenue remained stable last quarter, while the defense segment operating margin was 7.5%, as we continue to manage through COVID-related impacts and disruptions on the timing of execution and deliveries. Near-term challenges aside, defense booked orders for $261 million, including a contract with Lockheed Martin for a suite of C-130J training devices, for the binational French and German C-130J training facility. We also signed with Lockheed for the supply of the CAE magnetic anomaly detection and extended roll system for the U.S. Navy MH-60R Seahawk helicopter. Also during the quarter, Defense was awarded a contract for the next increment of a multi-year contract with the United States Air Force to provide comprehensive C-130H air crew training services as well as an order to continue providing the U.S. Navy with primary and advanced jet instructor support for the chief of naval air trading at five naval air stations. Finally, as a result of superior contract performance, Defense received a sole source extension award for T-44C air crew training services through mid-2027. Defense also announced its involvement in a highly strategic contract to further develop and extend a single synthetic environment technology demonstrator for the United Kingdom Strategic Command. The single synthetic environment, or SSC, aims to deliver a virtual world to be used for operational planning and decision support across all domains, cyber, space, maritime, land, and air. This, together with the recent award to support U.S. Special Operations Command last quarter, are indicative of the good progress that we've been making with our digitally immersive solutions. At the end of the quarter, Defense won the competitive re-compete of the U.S. Air Force KC-135 training system contract, a program worth approximately $275 million U.S. over the next eight years. This is a prime example of CE's ability to renew and expand major long-term training systems contracts as the training partner of choice. And in healthcare, we continue to deliver CA1 ventilators and segment revenue more than tripled with margins reaching 10.7%. I'm extremely proud of what we've been able to accomplish. First, in rising to the challenge to develop life-saving ventilators in a time of great humanitarian need, and in our continued wartime efforts in the fight against COVID-19. We're continuing to provide new tools and training capabilities in support of our customers' training needs during this pandemic. These included solutions like CAVimitix 3.1, an ultrasound education platform with new remote learning and screen-sharing capabilities, curriculum development tools for distance learning, and Microsoft HoloLens 2 mixed reality interface for remote education. We also expanded our adaptive clinical digital learning courses covering mechanical ventilation to include basic, advanced, and COVID-19 patient management. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Sonia, who will provide you additional details about our financial performance. I'll return at the end of the call to comment on our outlook. Sonia?