DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the fourth quarter 2021 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 this time, you will need to press star 1 on your telephone keypad. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Pat Fitzgerald. from Investor Relations.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for DuPont's fourth quarter 2021 earnings conference call. We are making this call available to investors and media via webcast. We have prepared slides to supplement our comments during this conference call. These slides are posted on the Investor Relations section of DuPont's website and through the link to our webcast. Joining me on the call today are Ed Breen, Chief Executive Officer, and Lori Koch, Chief Financial Officer. Please read the forward-looking statement disclaimer contained in the slides. During our call, we will make forward-looking statements regarding our expectations or predictions about the future. Because these statements are based on current assumptions and factors that involve risk and uncertainty, our actual performance and results may differ materially from our forward-looking statements. Our 2020 Form 10-K, as updated by our current and periodic reports, includes detailed discussion of principal risks and uncertainties which may cause such differences. Unless otherwise specified, all historical financial measures presented today exclude significant items. We will also refer to other non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is included in our press release and posted to the investor page of our website. I'll now turn the call over to Ed.

Thanks, Pat, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our fourth quarter earnings call. In addition to discussing our fourth quarter results and outlook for 2022, this morning I will also comment on the progress of both our intended acquisition of Rogers and our process for divesting a majority of the M&M segment. Our fourth quarter results were highlighted by 6% volume gains, including a 9% increase in the E&I segment and a 12% increase in W&P. M&M delivered top-line results ahead of expectations, including volumes well ahead of global auto builds in the quarter. Customer demand was broad-based across the portfolio, led by greater than 20% volume growth in semiconductor technologies and high teens volume growth in water. Our top-line performance also reflects significant pricing actions we took, to offset $250 million of raw material inflation in the quarter. We are seeing increases in all businesses with about three-fourths of the impact in M&M. Our teams have done an outstanding job monitoring our input costs and quickly translating that into price increases to remain price-cost neutral for the year. We are taking additional action to as we worked to offset logistics costs, which during the fourth quarter were a $50 million headwind, mostly in W&P. I want to recognize and thank our employees who show up every day in our factories to keep our lines running and supplying the necessary products and solutions to deliver results like we reported today. Their unwavering commitment in the face of a relentless pandemic, ongoing supply chain disruptions, and logistic challenges deserves our gratitude. Turning to slide three, I will provide an update on our portfolio transformation and will review how our focus on those strategic actions, balanced capital allocation, and innovation-led growth position us extremely well heading into 2022 to continue unlocking value for our shareholders, innovating for our customers, and creating opportunity for our employees. In November, we announced our planned acquisition of Rogers Corporation, as well as our intent to divest a significant portion of our M&M segment. These portfolio actions will position DuPont among the top of the multi-industrial peer set with top quartile revenue growth, EBITDA margins, and low cyclicality, all hallmarks of top performing companies. Going forward, our business will be centered around the secular high-growth pillars of electronics, water, industrial technologies, protection, and next-generation automotive. Our team sees strong customer demand across these pillars, driven by megatrends such as the transition to hybrid and electric vehicles, clean water, sustainability, and the move to 5G. The preparation for the Rogers acquisition is well underway and on track for an end of second quarter closing. Several significant milestones in the path to closing have already been achieved. In mid-December, the waiting period under the HSR expired here in the U.S., and regulatory processes in other parts of the world are underway. Just two weeks ago, on January 25th, Rogers shareholders voted to approve the transaction. Excitement is building for combining this business with our portfolio of electronics offerings, which includes our recent acquisition of Laird Performance Materials. Our teams are anxious to get to the point where we can start working with the application engineers, R&D, and sales teams at Rogers to map out the revenue synergy opportunities in the areas of next-generation auto, 5G infrastructure, defense electronics, and clean energy. Combined with Laird, these acquisitions increase the total addressable market of our E&I business by approximately 50%, and will deepen our penetration into markets such as electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and industrial technologies. A lot of work has been done to plan for the cost synergies associated with the Rogers acquisition, which we expect to be approximately $115 million. We also have line of sight to about 63 million of cost synergies from the layered acquisition from last summer, which is ahead of our target. We are looking across both of the acquisitions, as well as our existing E&I business, to maximize our synergies through G&A and footprint optimization, along with procurement savings. We also announced that we have initiated a process to vest the majority of the M&M segment. Our work here is also on track and progressing well. As I had expected, there is a significant level of interest in this market-leading asset, and I am pleased with how the process is progressing. Our target is to have a signed agreement by the end of the first quarter with a closing in the fourth quarter of this year. In addition to positioning the company as a top-performing multi-industrial company, These transactions enable us to transform the portfolio while maintaining a strong balance sheet and continuing with a balanced financial policy. Today we announce that our Board has approved a 10% per share increase to our dividend, which is consistent with our commitment for a dividend payout in the range of 35 to 45%, and to grow the dividend annually in line with earnings. In addition, our board has also authorized a new $1 billion share repurchase program, which enables us to continue returning value to our shareholders as we expect to complete the remaining $375 million under our existing authorization in the first quarter ahead of the plan's expiration. After paying down the financing associated with the Rogers acquisition, we expect to deploy a significant portion of the remaining M&M proceeds to do further M&A to build on our core areas of strength, as well as additional share repurchases. We will also generate strong cash flow this year in addition to the 240 million gross proceeds from the biomaterials divestiture, which is the last of our non-core divestitures. Our strong balance sheet positions us well to deliver for all stakeholders through investment in our business, dividends, share repurchases, and additional M&A. Finally, we will deliver shareholder value through staying focused on innovation, which is at the core of DuPont. The 6% volume growth we delivered in the quarter and 10% volume growth for the year benchmarks well against our top peers. For the quarter, our volume gains, excluding M&M segment, were up 10%. These results are a proof point that the work of our R&D teams and application engineers who spend countless hours working alongside our customers solving their most complex challenges is at an advantage in the marketplace. Our focus on innovation is also at the core of our ESG strategy through both innovation in our own processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at our factories, as well as new product innovations that support and advance our customer sustainability goals in areas such as clean water, clean energy, electric vehicles, and connectivity. The levers of portfolio transformation, balanced capital allocation, and innovation-led growth is a powerful combination to create long-term shareholder value at DuPont. With that, let me turn it over to Lori to discuss the details of the quarter as well as our financial outlook.