Crane NXT, Co.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Crane NXT fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings 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 a session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. you'll then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I will now hand the conference over to your speaker today, Matt Roach, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator, and good morning, everyone. I want to welcome you all to the fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings call for Careen NXT. Before we begin, Let me remind you that the slides we will reference during this presentation can be accessed via the investor relations section of our website at craneNXT.com, and a replay of today's call will also be available on our website. Before we discuss our results, I encourage all participants to review the legal notice on slide two, which explains the risk of forward-looking statements and the use of non-GAAP financial measures. Additionally, we refer you to the cautionary language at the bottom of our earnings release in and out form 10-K and subsequent filings pertaining to forward-looking statements. During the call, we will also be using non-GAAP numbers, which are reconciled to the comparable GAAP numbers in the tables at the end of our press release and accompanying slide presentation, both of which are available on our website at craneatnxt.com in the investor relations section. With me today are Aaron Saig, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Cristina Cristiano, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. On our call this morning, we'll discuss 2024 highlights, our financial and operational performance, and our 2025 financial guidance and outlook. After our prepared remarks, we'll open the call to analysts for questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Aaron.

Thank you, Matt, and good morning. I appreciate everyone joining the call this morning to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2024 results, as well as our outlook for 2025. I'd like to start by thanking our associates around the world for their hard work during Q4. We have an outstanding team, and I'm proud of what we accomplished together in 2024. Starting with our financial results, our Q4 and full-year performance was in line with our expectations. Sales growth was approximately 12% in the fourth quarter and approximately 7% for the full year. An adjusted EBITDA margin was approximately 27% in both periods. We continued to generate strong free cash flow with adjusted free cash flow conversion of approximately 109% in the fourth quarter and approximately 76% for the full year. Finally, we delivered adjusted EPS of $1.20 in the fourth quarter and $4.26 for the full year. We continue to execute our strategy in Q4, taking meaningful steps to position the company for long-term success and build on our position as a technology leader. Specifically in our currency business, we continue to win share with our leading security technology, and we ended 2024 winning a total of 13 new denominations specifying micro-optics. Additionally, our strong backlog gives us high confidence in our sales outlook for international currency in 2025. Also in Q4, we want our first contract selling micro-optics through the OPSEC channel. Through this agreement with a luxury perfume company, we'll provide labels containing micro-optic technology along with a digital authentication solution to increase customers' engagement with the brand. We'll also provide online brand protection services that allow this customer to remove counterfeit products from online marketplaces. This is a great first step in driving commercial synergies with our expanded product portfolio through the OPSEC acquisition and also increases our recurring revenue. We're also completing the final equipment upgrades to support the launch of the new U.S. banknotes that will enter production in 2026. We successfully completed the first cycle of upgrades on schedule in Q1 of 24 and began the second cycle, which is on track to be finished at the end of March. These investments are critical milestones to prepare for the new U.S. currency. And I continue to be excited by this decade-long growth opportunity and what it will provide Crane NXT. And in CPI, we opened our first service center, providing customers with a new cost-effective option for repairs, complementing our on-site field service offerings. As you know, we've also been very busy executing on our strategy to grow and diversify our portfolio. Last year, we completed the acquisitions of OPSEC and TrueTag Smart Packaging. The integration of both acquisitions is going as anticipated, and we're utilizing the crane business system to drive operating synergies. Additionally, we expect to close the acquisition of De La Rue Authentication Solutions in the second quarter of this year, expanding our customer base and product offerings across the product and brand authentication value chains. And we continue to have a very active and robust M&A funnel. Our strong balance sheet and free cash flow generation gives us ample capacity to continue to grow and diversify the portfolio in 2025. So as we exit in 2024, I believe we are in a very good position for long-term shareholder value creation. Thank you again to all the associates for their dedication in 2024 and focus on executing in 2025. With that, let me now turn the call over to Christina to review our fourth quarter and full year financial performance in detail, as well as outline our 2025 guidance. Christina?