Greif, Inc.

Good morning. My name is Rob and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Greif second quarter 2022 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 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, again press the star one. Thank you. Matt Leahy, Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

Thanks, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Greif's second quarter fiscal 2022 earnings conference call. This is Matt Leahy, Greif's Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, and I am joined by Ole Rosgaard, Greif's President and Chief Executive Officer, and Larry Hilshimer, Greif's Chief Financial Officer. We will take questions at the end of today's call. In accordance with regulation fair disclosure, please ask questions regarding issues you consider important because we are prohibited from discussing material nonpublic information with you on an individual basis. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up before returning to the queue. Please turn to slide two. As a reminder, during today's call, we will make forward-looking statements involving plans, expectations, and beliefs related to future events. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Additionally, we'll be referencing certain non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP metrics that can be found in the appendix of today's presentation. And now, I will turn the presentation over to Ole on slide three.

Thanks, Matt, and good morning, everyone. Our teams continue to execute with excellence, resulting in outstanding second quarter results We delivered these financial results despite sustained external challenges related to inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, and the pandemic. We delivered record second quarter adjusted EBITDA of 251 million and adjusted EPS of $2.41, which further strengthened our balance sheets so that we are now near the low end of our target leverage ratio. These accomplishments result from the continued disciplined execution of the global drive team and the commitment to advancing our Build to Last strategy. I encourage you to attend our investor day, which is just two weeks away, on June 23rd, where we will discuss Build to Last and growth opportunities in greater detail. Information about this event can be found in the earnings release we published yesterday and within today's presentation materials. Please turn to slide four to begin discussion of our detailed results. Global industrial packaging delivered an outstanding second quarter results with sales up over 21% year-over-year versus a strong comp in fiscal Q2 21. We continue to see solid demand in our global resin-based portfolio with plastic drums and IBC per day volumes up low to mid-single digit versus prior year. Global steel drum volume fell by slightly more than 1% per day versus the prior year due to COVID-related lockdowns in China as well as some customer supply chain constraints in America. Generally speaking, our end market demand remained healthy through the quarter. despite many of our GIP customers facing challenges with their raw material availability and supply chain and labor disruptions, which did impact order patterns. Our continued focus on value over volume helped lift GIP margins slightly year-over-year despite cost pressures in raw materials, labor, transportation, and energy. We benefited from both our contractual pass-through mechanisms and incremental non-raw material pricing actions in the quarter that we expect will continue to support the business going forward. Our teams are committed to delivering quality products and legendary service to our customers, which provides us with the ability to effectively manage inflation. I commend our global GIP team for their relentless execution and discipline during these challenging times. I now ask you to turn to page five, please. Paper packaging second quarter sales rose by 152 million versus the prior year due to higher average selling prices and continued strong volumes in all paperboard grades. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 49 million versus the prior year due to higher sales, partially offset by higher raw material, transportation, and energy costs, including a significant 26 million drag from higher OCC costs. Similar to the first quarter, demand across all paperboard products remained robust. At quarter end, our combined mill backlogs exceeded eight weeks. Second quarter volumes in our core choice sheet feeder system were up low single digits per day versus the prior year, as box demands in our key end markets remained solid through the quarter. This was an impressive result given the where our volumes were up nearly 37% year over year. Our core choice business is still delivering volumes that are substantially above pre-pandemic levels. Second quarter, tube and core volumes were up mid-single digits per day versus the prior year, with similarly strong durables and market demands, particularly in paper and moving costs. I will now turn it over to our CFO, Larry Hilsheimer, on slide six.