Global Partners LP

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Global Partners fourth quarter 2021 financial results conference call. Today's call is being recorded. There will be an opportunity for questions at the end of the call. If anyone should require operator assistance during the call, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. With us from Global Partners are President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Eric Slipka, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Gregory Hansen, Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mark Romain, and Acting General Counsel and Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions, Mr. Sean Geary. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Geary for opening remarks. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that this morning we will be making forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements may include, but are not limited to, projections, beliefs, goals, and estimates concerning the future financial and operational performance of global partners. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding market conditions such as the crude oil market, business cycles, demand for petroleum products, including gasoline and gasoline blend stocks and renewable fuels, utilization of assets and facilities, weather, credit markets, demand for convenience store operators, the regulatory and permitting environment, and the forward product pricing curve, which could influence quarterly financial results. These statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the partnership's control, including without limitation, the impact and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty around the timing of an economic recovery in the United States, which will impact the demand for the products we sell and the services we provide, Uncertainty around the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to our counterparties and our customers and their corresponding ability to perform the obligations and or utilize the products we sell and or the services we provide. Uncertainty around the impact and duration of federal, state, and municipal regulations and directives related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from the partnership's historical experience and present expectations or projections. We believe these assumptions are reasonable, given currently available information. Our assumptions and future performance are subject to a wide range of business risks and uncertainties. In addition, such performance is subject to risk factors, including but not limited to those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Global Partners undertakes no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to any forward-looking statements that may be made during today's conference call. With Regulation FD in effect, it is our policy that any material comments concerning future results of operations will be communicated through news releases, publicly announced conference calls, or other means that will constitute public disclosure for the purposes of Regulation FD. Now it is my pleasure to turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Eric Slifka.

Thank you, Sean. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Sustained momentum in our GDSO segment contributed to a solid fourth quarter performance for global. Retail fuel volume and margins increased year over year in the quarter, while demand across our convenience store portfolio continued to improve amid the recovery in the U.S. economy. Our Q4 results cap the successful 2021 in which we continue to navigate the pandemic and the related macroeconomic challenges that have affected virtually all industries during the past year. Combined product margin, which came in at 802 million for the full year, was on par with 2020. That is remarkable. That is a remarkable result when you consider the extraordinary benefit to wholesale product margins that we saw in Q2 of 2020 as a result of the extreme shift in the forward product pricing curve. Our performance this past year speaks to the strength of our vertically integrated assets, a high-value portfolio comprised of approximately 400 owned and 450 leased properties. These assets help us create long-term value for our unit holders and deliver exceptional performance for the consumers and businesses across the regions we serve. Now let me touch on our recent highlights, which advance our strategy of driving profitable growth in consolidating markets. In November, we signed an agreement to sell our Revere terminal in Boston Harbor for $150 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year, subject to customary closing conditions. As part of the agreement, we will lease back key infrastructure from the buyer and continue operations at the terminal post-closing. From a capital allocation perspective, the deal demonstrates our goal of optimizing our asset base. Upon closing, the transaction provides us with significant cash proceeds upfront and strong cash flows over the life of the agreement. On the retail side, we recently closed two acquisitions that added nearly 50 company-owned sites to our portfolio. In January, we completed the purchase of Consumers Petroleum of Connecticut. The transaction included 26 company-operated wheels convenience stores and related fuel operations in Connecticut and fuel supply agreements at 22 sites in Connecticut and New York. This month, we expanded our presence in Virginia with the purchase of Miller's Neighborhood Market. The transaction added 23 convenience stores, including 21 company-operated sites and fuel supply agreements with 34 locations. Like Global, Consumers Petroleum and Miller's Neighborhood Market are family-founded businesses with a strong and loyal base of customers. And in each case, the acquisition enables us to leverage our scale, supply relationships, and integrated business model to enhance returns and our guests' experience. Turning to our distribution, in January, the board increased the distribution on our commutes by $0.01 per unit to $2.34 per unit, on an annualized basis, maintaining our commitment to returning capital to our unit holders. This distribution was paid on February 14th to unit holders of record as of the close of business on February 8th, 2022. On a personal note, I'd like to express my gratitude to Ken Watchmaker, who retired from the board of directors in December. Ken had been a director since our initial public offering in 2005, and played a key role in our progress over the past 16 years. In his retirement, we wish him health and happiness. I'd also like to extend a warm welcome to Jamie Pereira, who joined the board in Q4. Jamie spent two decades as a partner at Ernst & Young, where he oversaw the firm's consumer products group in the Northeast and acted as a coordinating partner for a variety of clients, including Global. Jamie brings to the board excellent accounting and financial skills, as well as relevant consumer product experience, which will help us as we continue to grow. Looking ahead, our strategy in 2022 is clear. To continue profitable growth by investing in and optimizing our portfolio and acquiring assets that complement our skills and enable us to generate mid-teen returns. The M&A market remains very active, and we continue to evaluate all opportunities that we consider appropriate to achieve our business objectives. Our role in energy transition is also at the forefront of our plans. We are aggressively pursuing opportunities to utilize our thermal assets for renewable fuels while encouraging policies that promote and monetize their adoption. To that end, we continue to advance our grassroots coalition, Project Carbon Freedom, the coalition of over 100 members and nearly 1,000 advocates, is promoting clean energy solutions that utilize the infrastructure and equipment we have in place as a means to meet policy-driven climate goals today. Earlier this year, we onboarded an electric innovation strategist as part of our sustainability team. The position demonstrates our commitment to planning for electric vehicle adoption and responsibly incorporating EV charging into our portfolio. We continue to look for public-private partnerships in the space and were recently awarded funds from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to install fast-charging electric vehicle charging ports at nine of our owned or controlled retail locations. Finally, I want to acknowledge the global team whose commitment Growth mindset and execution allows us to continue delivering outstanding results. As we look to 2022, we will continue to invest in our people who underpin our ability to execute our strategy. With that, let me turn the call over to Greg for his financial review. Greg?