CAE Inc.

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. Thanks for joining us on the call. Before we begin, I will remind you that today's remarks, including management's outlook and answers to questions, contain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent our expectations as of today, February the 14th, 2023, and accordingly are subject to change. Such statements are based on assumptions that 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 CA's annual MD&A, available on our corporate website and on our filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators on CDAR and 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 open the call to questions from financial analysts. At the conclusion of that segment, we'll open the line to members of the media. Let me now turn the call over to Marc.

Marc Perrin Thank you, Andrew, and good afternoon to everyone joining us on the call. We had strong results in the third quarter, driven by CIVIL's double-digit growth, defense sequential improvement, and healthcare's increased profitability. We also ensured our path to future growth by securing over $1.2 billion in total order intake for a record $10.8 billion backlog and 1.22 times book-to-sales ratio. In CIVIL, we booked $713 million of orders from a large opportunities pipeline, resulting in a 1.38 times book-to-sales ratio. This is especially noteworthy accomplishment considering this is on revenue that's 33% higher than last year. Orders include long-term commercial aviation training agreements with Gold Airlines and Mesa Airlines and a multi-year business aviation training agreement with Deluxe Public Charter. We also made excellent progress with our flight operations software solutions, with notable agreements including a five-year contract with Ethiopian Airlines for our next-gen crew and operations managers solution suite, and since the end of the quarter, an agreement with Frontier Airlines for our next-gen operations solutions. Demand for full-flight simulators continues to be strong, with 14 sales in a quarter, bringing our year-to-date total to 43. Civil's financial and operational performance was also strong in the third quarter, with double-digit growth and near-record margins. We delivered nine full-flight simulators in the quarter, and average training center utilization was 73%, up from 60% last year. Commercial aviation training demand continued to be strongest in the Americas, followed by a seasonal uptick in Europe and in Asia, which has improved with the ongoing easing of travel restrictions in China. In business aviation, train demand continues to be robust throughout our network, reflecting a high level of pilot training to support business aircraft flight activity, which continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels. The leading indicator of our progress towards a larger and more profitable business is order intake. This quarter, we booked orders across domains for training and mission support solutions valued at $477 million for a 1.05 times book to sales ratio. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter that this ratio has been above one, resulting in a book to sales ratio of 1.25 times on a trailing 12-month basis. Notable orders in the air domain include the provision of a flight train device and maintenance and logistics support for the Royal Canadian Air Force's CH-149 Corbett search and rescue helicopter, the continuation of air crew training on the KC-135 Stratotanker and C-130 Hercules for United States Air Force, and international flight training device upgrades for the F-16 fighter jet and CH-53 heavy lift transport helicopter. In the land domain, we were awarded funding for our Joint Terminal Control Training Rehearsal System, which builds on the success of our previous funding award for a new virtual training capability for soldiers to the U.S. Army on the Soldier Virtual Trainer Prototype Contract. We also booked orders in the space and cyber domains, highlighted by the proliferation of CA solutions for distributed network and cyber secure mission training via U.S. Air Force SCARS program. And since the end of the quarter, we've booked orders in the sea domain with our ongoing work with Lockheed Martin on the Canadian surface combatant ship program. Defense also continued to build on its foundation of U.S. Army support with the successful competitive re-compete for the U.S. Army aviation fixed wing flight training program. which involves a provision of comprehensive initial and recurrent training for more than 600 U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force fixed-wing pilots annually at the C.A. Dolphin Training Center in Alabama. The approximate total value of the base contract and options is $250 million U.S. with a period of performance through 2032. This was awarded to us with an effective date commencing in our fourth quarter, and accordingly will be reflected in our next quarter order intake. Also involving U.S. Army aviation, our prime partner on the U.S. Army's future vertical lift, Bell Helicopter, was awarded the FLARA program, which will field the V-280 Valor tiltrotor to eventually replace the long-serving UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Pending protest resolution on this award, CAE will support Team Valor by delivering a range of training devices, solutions, and courseware for Bell's family of systems. We've continued to place a strong focus on our operations and asset optimization in the face of the ongoing macroeconomic challenges impacting the defense industry, as well as the broader economy. And as a result of these efforts, Our financial performance for defense in the quarter improved sequentially and was largely in line with what we expected. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Sonia, who will provide additional details about our financial performance. Sonia?