Crown Holdings, Inc.

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Good morning and welcome to Crown Holdings' second quarter 2022 conference call. Your lines have been placed on a listen-only mode until the question-and-answer session. Please be advised that this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Kevin Clothier, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Sir, you may begin.

Thank you, Nicole, and good morning. With me on today's call is Tim Donahue, President and Chief Executive Officer. If you do not already have the earnings release, it is available on our website at crowncourt.com. On this call, as in the earnings release, we will be making a number of forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary materially from such statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to vary are contained in the press release and in our SEC filings, including our Form 10-K for 2021 and subsequent filings. The company recorded diluted earnings per share in the quarter of $2.43 compared to $0.95 in the prior year quarter. Adjusted earnings per share in the quarter were $2.10 compared to $2.14 in 2021. The second quarter of 2021 included 30 cents per share related to the discontinued European food operations, net of the interest savings, share buybacks, and equity earnings from a remaining 20% stake. Net sales in the quarter were up 23% from the prior year, primarily due to the pass-through of higher raw material costs and increased beverage can volumes. Segment income was $432 million in the quarter compared to $395 million in the prior year, primarily due to improved profitability in the North American tin plate and can-making equipment businesses and 4% global beverage volume growth. As of June 30th, We have repurchased 600 million of Crown Commons stock under the current 3 billion board authorization. For the balance of the year, we assume that headwinds from a stronger U.S. dollar and higher European energy prices will persist. We are forecasting a full year average Eurodollar rate of 105, which assumes Eurodollar parity for the balance of the year. This compares to an average Euro rate of 118 in 2021. Using the Euro as a proxy for all currencies where we operate globally, each one cent move in the Euro dollar rate equates to two cents per diluted share. We now estimate energy costs to be up 45 million for the year with the bulk of the increase in the second half. Adjusting for the strong dollar and higher energy costs, we currently project EBITDA of 1.9 billion, adjusted earnings in the range of $7.65 to $7.85 per share. Both figures in line with previous guidance, excluding the impact of the stronger U.S. dollar and the higher energy costs. The company currently expects third quarter adjusted earnings to be in the range of $1.75 to $1.85 per share. Also, it should be noted, the third quarter of 2021 included approximately 12 cents per share related to the discontinued food operations, net of the interest savings, share buybacks, and equity earnings from our remaining 20% ownership stake. Our recovery of costs related to the December tornado in Bowling Green is proceeding according to plan. And our four-year estimate assumes all losses from Bowling Green will be recovered by year end. Our target leverage remains at 3.25 times and assumes $1 billion of capital spending, $400 million of free cash flow, and total share repurchases of $1 billion. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tim.