Darling Ingredients Inc.

Good morning and welcome to the Darling Ingredients Incorporated conference call to discuss the company's fourth quarter and the fiscal year 2025 financial results. After the speaker's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer period and instructions to ask the question will be given at that time. Today's call is being recorded and I would now like to turn the call over to Ms. Sue Ann Guthrie, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 earnings call. Here with me today are Mr. Randall C. Stewie, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Bob Day, Chief Financial Officer. Our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 earnings news release and slide presentation are available on the investor page of our corporate website and will be joined by a transcript of this call once it is available. During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements which are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results can materially differ because of factors discussed in today's press release and the comments made during this conference call and in the risk factors section of our Form 10-K, 10-Q, and other reported filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. Now I will hand the call over to Randy.

Thanks, Sue Ann. Good morning, everyone. As we close out 2025, I want to acknowledge our employees for continuing to execute on our vision of being the world's largest, most profitable, and most respected processor of animal byproducts. For every end, we believe there is a new beginning as 2025's performance clearly demonstrates. Our 2025 results reflected the uncertainties created by evolving renewables public policy, along with the turbulent globalization related to tariffs and trade. Yet our team remained committed to the fundamentals that matter the most. We meaningfully improved our debt leverage, took steps to rationalize and improve our portfolio, and focused on our core strengths and advanced our operational excellence. These actions throughout the year strengthened our platform, assisted in generating concrete results, and position us for continued growth and profitability in the future. In the fourth quarter, we delivered solid EBITDA growth and sequential gross margin improvement. Despite a challenging year for Diamond Green Diesel, our best-in-class operations led the industry in results. Darling's combined adjusted EBITDA for Q4 was $336.1 million, and our global ingredients business performed strong with $278.2 million of EBITDA. In our feed ingredients segment, exceptional operational execution drove meaningful margin expansion for the fourth quarter in a row, a clear sign of the momentum our operations team continues to build as they remain laser focused on driving efficiency and delivering strong results each quarter. The additional week in our fiscal year, combined with a favorable lag in fat prices, supported higher volumes in sales in the fourth quarter for the year. In the US, demand for domestic fats remains robust as we continue to operate within agricultural and energy policy direction that is increasingly favorable to Darling, to American agriculture, and to American energy independence. Internationally, our global rendering business in Europe, Canada, and Brazil delivered solid year-over-year growth. Turning to our food segment, global collagen and gelatin demand continues to rebound, And our previously announced joint venture with PB Liner and Ticenderlo is advancing as planned, with regulatory reviews now underway. Across the business, we're seeing positive global demand trends that give us a very encouraging outlook for 2026. In our fuel segment, Diamond Green Diesel delivered its strongest quarter of the year with $57.9 million of EBITDA, or 41 cents per gallon. For the full year 2025, DGD earned 103.7 million of EBITDA or 21 cents EBITDA per gallon and sold approximately 1 billion gallons. This performance reinforces DGD's position as the lowest cost operator with an unmatched supply chain and superior logistics. Even in an uncertain time for the industry, DGD continued to generate positive EBITDA and consistent operations, highlighting the strength of our people and the deep expertise behind our operations. Now, looking ahead, we are increasingly optimistic. The policy backdrop is moving in a direction that we believe will soon enhance DGD's earning potential and create a more constructive environment for domestic renewable fuels. Now, as I mentioned earlier, we have taken steps to sharpen our portfolio and focus on our core strengths, which may result in some asset sales in the near future. At the same time, we are open to opportunities that strengthen and expand our core business where it makes sense. Darling was identified as a stocking horse bidder in the bankruptcy proceedings for three rendering facilities from the Potense Group in Brazil, the second largest rendering company in Brazil. Bob will share more details on the financials and timing, but these are high-quality assets with strong operational capability and fits naturally alongside our existing footprint. This is an incredibly strategic acquisition of assets that offers important synergies with the rest of our network in Brazil. Now with this, I'd like to hand over the call to Bob, take us through the financials, then I'll come back and discuss my thoughts for 2026.