Chemours Company (The)

Good morning. My name is Rob, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Chemers Company fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, again, press star one. Thank you. Jonathan Locke, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, you may begin your conference.

Jonathan Locke Good morning, and welcome to the Chemours Company's fourth quarter and full year 2021 earnings conference call. I'm joined today by Mark Newman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Sameer Rahan, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we start, I'd like to remind you that comments made on this call, as well as the supplemental information provided in our presentation and on our website, contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the impact of COVID-19 on our business and operations, and the other risks and uncertainties described in the documents Comoros has filed with the FDC. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events that may not be realized. Actual results may differ, and Chemours undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements as a result of future developments or new information. During the course of this call, management will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe are useful to investors evaluating the company's performance. A reconciliation of non-GAAP terms and adjustments are included in our release and at the end of this presentation. With that, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Mark Newman, who will cover the highlights from the past quarter and full year.

Mark? Thank you, Jonathan, and thank you for joining us this morning. I will begin my remarks on Chart 3. 2021 was a year where the Chemours team pulled together to deliver strong results quarter after quarter, despite being a year full of challenges. Our performance reflects strong customer demand for our products and our commitment to customer service and supply chain reliability through the toughest conditions, all underpinned by our company-wide commitment to the holistic safety and health of our workforce. Revenue was up 28% year-over-year to $6.3 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rose 49% to $1.3 billion. And we generated $543 million of free cash flow consistent with our focus on sustainable growth and high-quality earnings across our businesses with strong free cash flow conversion. 2021 was truly a team effort across the entire business. In our TT segment, we built what we believe is the strongest book of contracted business ever with strategic customers who appreciate our value proposition and with whom we can grow over time. In TSS, we delivered strong sales and margin performance despite all the OEM headwinds and look forward to the growth we can achieve under the U.S. AIM Act. And in APM, we achieved record-setting results on both the top and bottom line in a business which is being driven by several exciting secular growth trends. Finally, in chemical solutions, we completed the sale of our mining solutions business, which will give us greater bandwidth to focus on our industry-leading TT, TSS, and APM businesses. I'm proud of the results we're reporting today, and proud of the entire Chemours team that delivered them. I would also like to thank our customers for their trust and confidence in Chemours. But 2021 wasn't just about the financial results. We made significant contributions to the planet, our people, and the communities in which we operate through progress on our corporate responsibility commitments. Chemours believes that together with our employees, customers, suppliers, and communities, we will create a better world through the power of our chemistry. Our chemistry is essential to so much of our daily lives today and is also key to a more sustainable infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced electronics. In fact, we are integral to the U.S. semiconductor industry supply chain. And we are making significant investments to manufacture this chemistry responsibly with the latest abatement technology, all part of our commitment to reduce emissions of fluororganic compounds by 99% and greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030. Additionally, we continue to focus on our remediation commitments at our key sites, including the barrier wall project at our Fayetteville, North Carolina plant. Finally, with a DuPont Corteva Chemours MOU behind us, we are actively working to address, manage, and resolve risks to the company related to legacy PFAS liabilities. A good example of this is the resolution of legacy natural resource damage claims in the past year with the state of Delaware. As we look forward to 2022, our guidance reflects our confidence in Chemours and our intent to drive consistent performance through the cycle while generating significant free cash flow. We continue to invest behind key secular growth drivers, especially in clean energy and advanced electronics, and behind innovative and responsible chemistry, that enables the sustainable products of the future, from advanced coatings to low GWP thermal solutions to fuel cells and beyond, all while strengthening our balance sheet and returning the majority of our free cash flow to shareholders. Turning to the next chart, I'd like to highlight more of the good work we're doing across Chemours through our corporate responsibility commitment programs. Last quarter, we discussed our evolved portfolio pillar and how the AMAC will help drive opt-in low GWP refrigerant adoption across the U.S. Today, I'd like to cover our inspired people pillar. The inspired people pillar has been one where we have consistently delivered outstanding progress through all three platforms, safety excellence, vibrant communities, and employee empowerment. In the fourth quarter, we launched a new program we called ChemFest, short for the Chemours Future of Engineering, Science, Trades, and Technology. ChemFest helps bring STEM education to under-resourced middle schools in communities in which we operate. This year, with an initial investment of $4.3 million, We are bringing improved access to early STEM education to schools around our Wilmington headquarters, our New Johnsonville site, and our Chambers Works site. This program is a natural feeder to our FOSSE program, which targets high school seniors pursuing STEM education at the college level. In total, Chemours has committed over $15 million to our Inspired People initiatives, an investment which will pay back many times over in the lives we change and the impact we have on the communities in which we operate. I'm proud of this work, which reflects our company's strong commitment to purpose and people, and would like to thank Alvinia Scarborough, a chief brand officer, and her entire team for leading the charge over the last several years. With that, I'll turn things over to Samir to review the financial results for the fourth quarter. I'll be back to talk about our guidance before turning to Q&A.