Dole plc

and answer session. For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Head of Investor Relations, James Reagan. James, please go ahead.

Thank you, Krista. Welcome, everybody, and thank you for taking the time to join our second quarter of 2024 Earnings Conference call and webcast. Joining me on the call today is our Chief Executive Officer, Rory Byrne, our Chief Operating Officer, Joanne Linden, and our Chief Financial Officer, Jacinta Devine. During this call, we'll be referring to presentation slides for supplemental remarks, and these, along with our earnings release and other related materials, are available on the investor relations section of the DOE GIC website. Please note, our remarks today will include certain forward-looking statements within the provisions of the Federal Securities Safe Harbor Law. These reflect circumstances at the time they are made, and the company expressly explains any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied due to a wide range of factors, including those set forth in our SEC filings and press releases. Information regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures may be found in our press release, which also includes a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measures. With that, I'm pleased to turn today's call over to Rory.

Thank you, James, and welcome everybody. So thank you all for joining us today as we discuss our results for the second quarter of 2024. So turning firstly to slide four and the financial highlights for Q2. Well, the second quarter of 2024 was another strong quarter for our business, continuing our positive momentum. Group reported revenue was in line with last year, and on a like-for-like basis, when the impact of the progressive produce disposal is excluded, revenue increased by 4.3%. Just to leave it down, increased by 2.2% to $125.4 million, and on a like-for-like basis, increased by 8.2%. The growth in adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations on a like-for-like basis was driven by strong performances in both our fresh fruit and diversified fresh produce America segments and supported by continued good, stable performance in our diversified fresh produce EMEA segment. Our fresh vegetables business also delivered a strong quarter, contributing to the increase in absolute net income to $88.1 million compared to $52.3 million in the prior year. On an adjusted basis, net income was $47 million and adjusted to lose at EPS was 49 cents per share. As ever, cash management and capital allocation continue to be a strong focus for us. And with that, we're very pleased to see our leverage continue to reduce, falling to 1.9 times at the end of Q2 and resulting in a lower interest charge in the quarter compared to the prior year. Turning now to slide six for our operational highlights and starting with our fresh food segment. Our largest segment delivered a very strong performance in the second quarter with adjusted EBITDA of $70.6 million, 7.3% ahead of the prior year. Looking at the European market, we continued with our positive momentum. through the second quarter of 2024, driven by higher volumes in bananas as well as by lower sourcing and shipping costs. In North America, we also continued with a solid performance with higher banana volumes in pricing and an increase in overall revenues, but offset in part by anticipated higher shipping costs due to the scheduling of dry ducking activities for a number of our vessels. Most of this additional cost will be seen in the second half of the year. In the lower season, we'll say those volumes allow for a better scheduling opportunity to complete the necessary work. Looking ahead to the remainder of the year for both the North American and European markets, we believe we are well placed. The banana supply remains tight on an industry-wide basis, while despite a recent depreciation of the dollar against the Costa Rican cologne in particular, the strength of some key currencies on the sourcing side remains a challenge. However, with our diversified supply base, and experienced team, we have been proactively implementing initiatives to control our cost base and enable us to continue to service our customers competitively. Overall, we continue to anticipate another strong financial performance for the fresh food division on a full year basis. Our diversified EMEA segment delivered another good stable performance in Q2, consolidating its strong start to the year after an excellent first quarter. Revenue growth remained positive and continued to be driven by higher pricing, whereas volumes for the quarter were impacted by supply shortages for several products typically sourced out of South America. On an adjusted EBITDA level, good contributions continued to come from all regions, with a particularly positive performance in the Nordics, Spain and South Africa. Looking out to the rest of the year, we remain confident that by continuing to leverage our strong market positions, operations, integration, and investment opportunities, that we will deliver another satisfactory financial result for the whole year. Our Diversified America segment delivered another very strong quarter, and our like-by-like basis taking out the impact of the progressive projects disposal. The strong result was driven again by positive underlying performance and the benefit of some seasonal variations, which led to several export seasons extending further into Q2 than in prior years. From a volume standpoint, we had higher grade volumes, in particular in Q2, but additionally saw good overall marketplace for several products leading to better margins. Excluding some of the seasonal timing factors, the quarter was also positive and consistent on an underlying basis with strong pricing and small volume increases across most of our North American business. On the South American export side, the transition to winter season products has started well. Looking at the second half of the year, after an excellent first half, we are expecting to consolidate our excellent performance here today and deliver a strong full-year result on a like-for-like basis, while being conscious that seasonal timing may again have an important impact in the fourth quarter. So turning to the fresh vegetables business, as noted on our last call and since the termination of the sale agreement with Fresh Express, we have been actively exploring strategic alternatives to this business. We continue to seek the best possible outcome in the interest of all stakeholders. Operationally, we are maintaining a keen focus on the day-to-day running of the business. I've been very pleased to see the hard work of our committed management team paying off so far in 2024. While the standout performer in the digital segment has been our fresh-packed business, which has benefited from favourable market conditions in 24, our value-added business has also made important progress on an underlying basis. The combined businesses have generated operating income in both quarters of 24, while also contributing positive cash flow to the group in the first half. And with that, I'll hand you over to Jacinta to give a financial review for the second quarter.