Emerald Holding, Inc.

Welcome to the Emerald Holding fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one in your telephone keypad. I will now turn the call over to Erica Barsh, EVP of Strategy and Communications at Emerald.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome. Before we begin, Let me remind everyone that this call will include certain statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes remarks about future expectations, beliefs, estimates, plans, and prospects. In particular, the company's statements about projected results for 2026 are forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such statements. For discussion of these risks, uncertainties, and other factors, please refer to the company's SEC filings, including its most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, as well as the company's earnings release, all of which can be found on the company's investor relations websites. The company does not undertake any duty to update such forward-looking statements. Additionally, during today's call, management will discuss non-GAAP measures, which it believes can be useful in evaluating the company's performance. The presentation of this additional information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most comparable GAAP measures is can be found in the company's earnings release, which is available on the company's investor relations website. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, and a replay of this call will be available on the company's investor relations website through 1159 p.m. Eastern Time on March 20, 2026. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Hervé Sedky, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Please go ahead. Thank you, Erica, and good morning, everyone. On today's call, I'll begin with a review of our fourth quarter and four-year 2025 performance, followed by an update on our strategic priorities and outlook. And then I'll turn the call over to David Daft, our CFO, to review our financial results in greater detail. 2025 marked a transformational year for Emerald. Our teams remained focused on execution, translating strategic priorities into measurable progress and positioning the business to be more resilient, better diversified, and structurally stronger as we enter 2026. Over the course of the year, we delivered solid year-on-year growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, excluding insurance proceeds of 16.2% and 26.8% respectively, along with healthy organic growth. Reported organic revenue grew 1.1% in the full year, And if we assume the recently completed acquisitions of This Is Beyond, InsureTech Insights, and Generis were part of the portfolio in 2024, organic revenue for full year 2025 was up a solid 4.8%. These results reflect the strength of our diversified portfolio with balanced contributions from organic growth positions and sustained customer demands across our core businesses. Importantly, This performance highlights the predictability and durability of our earnings model and reinforces our confidence in our strategy. Over the past year, that strategy has continued to focus on actively reshaping the portfolio to increase our exposure to higher growth and markets while completing the exit of several underperforming brands that didn't recover post-COVID. This was a deliberate strategy executed through a mix of organic actions and targeted acquisitions, including This Is Beyond, InsurTech Insights, and Generis, which expanded our presence in attractive sectors such as luxury, manufacturing, and executive peer-to-peer networks. These moves were not about growth for growth's sake, but about ensuring that we own a well-diversified portfolio of only high-quality events that deliver a real ROI for our customers and long-term value for shareholders. As a result, we believe we entered 2026 with the strongest and most diversified portfolio we've ever had, which we believe will drive predictable and highly cash flow generative growth in the years ahead. The mix of our business today, the quality of customer demand, and our visibility into future bookings gives us confidence in the strength of the company. That confidence reflects the fundamentals of the portfolio and our execution, independent of any future strategic actions. As we look ahead, We see clear momentum entering 2026. Pacing remains healthy across the business, supported by strong rebooking activity and sustained customer engagement. These trends reflect continued confidence in the value our events deliver and the role of live, in-person engagement in our customers' go-to-market strategies. Industry data consistently shows that face-to-face engagement remains one of the most effective ways to drive high value B2B outcomes, particularly in complex or multi-stakeholder purchasing decisions. Taken together, this momentum reinforces our view that live engagement remains a critical and efficient growth channel across industries. Against that backdrop, we're initiating full-year 2026 guidance that reflects the strength of the portfolio today and our expectations for continued disciplined execution. For 2026, We expect revenue in the range of 490 million to 495 million and adjusted EBITDA in the range of 137.5 million to 142.5 million. David will walk through our assumptions in more detail in a moment. Building on our outlook for 2026, the demand supporting our business remains largely centered on the U.S. market. where our events serve as important marketplaces for both domestic and international participants. We continue to see solid interest from international exhibitors seeking access to U.S. buyers, which represents a meaningful opportunity to further serve global customers over time. As it relates to tariffs, we continue to monitor this situation closely and have incorporated the potential impacts into our planning for 2026. Developments in the Middle East have not had a meaningful effect on our operations to date, and we do not maintain a direct presence in the region. Overall, our exposure remains well-balanced with no material concentration risk, and we remain disciplined in how we approach international expansion. This progress, along with a broader portfolio repositioning, shapes our priorities for the year ahead. In 2026, Our focus will be on disciplined execution and building on the strong foundation established across the business. We will continue to drive organic efficiencies through targeted investments in automation, process optimization, and scalable platforms that support margin expansion over time. These efforts are designed to increase operating leverage, enhance the customer experience, and generate incremental upside as the portfolio continues to scale. M&A will also remain a key part of our growth strategy. We will deploy capital selectively, focusing on tuck-in and bolt-on acquisitions that strengthen the portfolio, expand our presence in attractive end markets, and drive long-term value within a disciplined return framework. Alongside this ongoing execution, our board continues to actively evaluate strategic options as previously announced in December. There are no updates to share at this time, and we will not be commenting further on this process until an agreement is reached or the review is otherwise completed. In summary, 2025 was a transformational year. We strengthened the business, improved its quality and resilience, and delivered a solid financial performance. As we enter 2026, we do so from a position of strength with strong demands, disciplined execution, and a clear path for continued value creation. With that, I'll turn the call over to David to walk through our financial results and outlook in more detail.