Celanese Corporation

Greetings and welcome to the Celanese Corporation's first quarter 2020 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Abe Paul, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Brock. Welcome to the Felonese Corporation's first quarter 2020 earnings conference call. My name is Abe Paul, Vice President of Investor Relations. With me today on the call are Lori Ryker, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Scott Richardson, our Chief Financial Officer. Felonies Corporation distributed its first quarter earnings release via BusinessWire and posted prepared remarks about the quarter on our investor relations website yesterday after market close. As a reminder, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures today. You will find the definitions of these measures as well as reconciliations to the comparable GAAP measures on our website. Today's presentation will also include forward-looking statements. Please review the cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements, which can be found at the end of the press release as well as the prepared comments document. Form 8K reports containing all of these materials have also been submitted to the SEC. I will turn the call to Lori for opening remarks before we open the line directly for your questions.

Thank you, Abe. Thank you, Abe. Before we turn it over for questions, I would like to take a moment or two to make just a few comments. We all recognize the unprecedented challenges the world is facing right now. On behalf of Celanese, I want to extend our sympathy to all of those affected by the coronavirus pandemic and express our gratitude to those who are working tirelessly on the frontline to keep us all safe. I want to acknowledge and thank our employees across the world. Each one has been impacted in some way. and amid their varying individual circumstances, they have collectively performed exceptionally well. I particularly want to thank our manufacturing employees around the globe who have kept our plants running to make and ship products to our customers. I also want to acknowledge our employees working from home who are still supporting customers, closing deals, signing contracts, and closing our books. Our first quarter earnings per share of $2.29 reflects their efforts It was not far off from our original expectations before all this happened. The first quarter was tough, and the reality is the second quarter is shaping up to be far more challenging. Simply put, we do not yet know how far demand will ultimately drop or how long this will last. We have tried to be transparent in sharing where we have visibility. Fortunately, one of our great strengths at Celanese is a culture of resiliency and a can-do attitude. I would like to thank Mark, who recently announced his retirement as our executive chairman, for his support of me throughout the CEO transition, but also for fostering, over many years, the development of this remarkable Felonese culture. Our culture is one of action. We have a lot we are working on to counter these challenges. I outlined much of that work yesterday in the script, and we are looking forward to doing much more. In this environment, we are focused on three imperatives. First, keeping our employees safe and healthy. Two, driving resilient cash flow in 2020. And three, positioning us for growth as we move into recovery. As a result of our work over many years, we are exceptionally well positioned today to weather this environment. Celanese is leaner, more nimble, and a more diversified company today than it has been at any other time in its history. Above all, in my almost one year at Celanese, I have gained trust in our people and their ability to rise together to meet challenges. They have done it many times in our past, and I am confident they will do it again. We are collectively focused on driving long-term shareholder value and positioning ourselves for robust growth when these challenges pass. On a lighter note, like many of you, we are all doing this from our homes today. So please be a bit patient if we have lags or speak over each other or if you hear any strange noises in the background. With that, Abe, I'll turn it back over to you.