CONMED Corporation

Good day and thank you for standing by and welcome to the Q4 full year 21 ComMed earnings conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speaker's presentation there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session you'll need to press star 1 on your telephone. If you require any further assistance, please press star zero. I would now like to hand the conference over to ComMed for a brief announcement. Please stand by momentarily.

Good afternoon, everyone. Before the conference call begins, let me remind you that during this call, management will be making comments and statements regarding its financial outlook and its plans and objectives, which represent forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties as those terms are defined under the federal securities laws. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events, performance, or results, and the company's actual results may differ materially from its current expectations. Please refer to the risks and other uncertainties disclosed under forward-looking information in today's press release, as well as the company's SEC filings for more details on the risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be discussed during this call, except as may be required by applicable law. You will also hear management refer to certain non-gap adjusted measurements during this discussion. While these figures are not a substitute for gap measurements, management uses these figures to aid in monitoring the company's ongoing financial performance from quarter to quarter and year to year on a regular basis and for benchmarking against other medical technology companies. Adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share measure the income of the company excluding credits or charges that are considered by the company to be special or outside of its normal ongoing operations. These adjusting items are specified in the reconciliations supporting the company's earning releases posted to the company's website. With these required announcements completed, I will turn the call over to Kurt Hartman, ConMed's Chair of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer, for opening remarks. Mr. Hartman?

Thank you, Julie and Justin. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for ConMed's fourth quarter and full year 2021 earnings call. With me on the call is Todd Garner, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Today, I will provide a brief overview of the financial and operating highlights for the fourth quarter and the full year. Todd will then provide a more detailed analysis of our financial performance and discuss our 2022 financial guidance. After that, we'll open the call to your questions. Turning to our results, total sales for the fourth quarter were $274 million. representing a year-over-year increase of 8.4% as reported and an increase of 9.1% in constant currency. For the full year, sales reached $1.01 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 17.2% as reported and 16.3% in constant currency. This is the first year that ConMed has exceeded $1 billion in revenue and and I'm proud of our team for its persistence in attaining this goal in the current operating environment. Our expectation is it will not take another 52 years to achieve the second billion. From an earnings perspective, during the fourth quarter, our GAAP net income totaled $24.4 million. This compares to net income of $24.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Excluding special items that affected comparability, Our adjusted net income of $33.4 million increased 33.5% year-over-year, and our adjusted diluted net earnings per share of $1.07 increased 27.4% year-over-year. For the full year, our GAAP net income totaled $62.5 million compared to net income of $9.5 million in 2020. Excluding special items that affected comparability, our adjusted net income of $99.4 million increased 54.8% year-over-year, and our adjusted diluted net earnings per share of $3.21 increased 47.2% year-over-year. Overall, our financial performance in 2021 was consistent with our original forecast, though the year did not unfold as we might have expected. the environment was and continues to be impacted by surges of COVID cases, staffing issues, and supply and logistics disruptions. Against that backdrop, we had another great year of strengthening our business infrastructure, advancing product innovation, and elevating our digital strategy, all which helped us to deliver solid earnings growth and cash generation. Overall, I'm honored to work with my executive team and beyond impressed by their commitment, and persistence in pursuing what is in the best interests of Convid. They and all of our global employees and related partners remain committed to our growth strategies, and I consider 2021 an excellent step in that journey. In 2022, we'll define success by staying focused on our people and ensuring the financial growth and health of the company while remaining committed to our strategy to drive above-market growth in both revenue and earnings. With that, I'll turn the call over to Todd, who will provide a more detailed analysis of our financial performance and discuss our 22 financial guidance. Todd? Thank you, Curt.