John Bean Technologies Corporation

Good morning and welcome to JBT Corporate Corporation's fourth quarter and full year 2021 earnings conference call. My name is Cheryl and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, 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 1. Thank you. I will now turn the call over to JBT's Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Tedric Meredith, to begin today's conference.

Thank you, Cheryl. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our fourth quarter and full year 2021 conference call. With me on the call is our Chief Executive Officer, Brian Deck, and Chief Financial Officer, Matt Meister. In today's call, we will use forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbor language in yesterday's press release and 8K filing. JBT's periodic SEC filings also contain information regarding risk factors that may have an impact on our results. These documents are available in the investor relations section of our website. Also on our discussion today includes references to certain non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable GAAP measure can be found in the investor relations section of our website. Now, I'll turn the call over to Brian.

Thanks, Kendrick, and good morning, everyone. In the fourth quarter and throughout 2021, JBT capitalized on our favorable market position to generate outstanding growth in orders. At Foodtech, our diversified portfolio, healthy underlying market demand, and the value that our solutions provide customers in terms of enhanced output, yield, labor-saving automation, and environmental sustainability drove exceptional order strength. Moreover, our new product introductions have been well received and are contributing to our performance on the demand front. At Aerotech, we see solid and improving demand environment and are well positioned with market leading products. Airline orders are continuing their measured recovery while the infrastructure and cargo segments remain strong. We also believe the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law in the fourth quarter, will support continued airport investment over the next several years. On the other hand, the unprecedented challenges we've talked about through most of 2021 associated with supply chain disruptions, high inflation, and labor availability were even more challenging than we guided for. As a result, JVT's financial performance fell short of our expectations for the quarter and the year. In terms of inflation, while JVT has implemented various price increases to offset rising input costs, the inflation we are experiencing is persistent. We will continue to work through previously priced backlog through the first half of 2022, particularly for fixed equipment at Aerotech. In terms of the material availability, conditions worsened for JVT and Q4 in a few categories, particularly related to electronics and hydraulics. On the labor front, conditions were tighter in the fourth quarter as well. And entering 2022, it became even more challenging with a very tight labor market and absenteeism associated with Omicron, which affects us and our vendor base, further stressing the supply chain. Given all this, we're maintaining modest margin expectations in 2022. Yet, as we look ahead with JBT's record orders, healthy backlog, and continued strong commercial pipeline entering 2022, we're optimistic about generating mid- to high-teen revenue growth and improving margins as the year progresses off the expected low in the first quarter. And given our well-positioned portfolio solutions and the continued robust demand environment, combined with the future benefits of a digital transformation, we're excited about the prospects beyond 2022. I'll turn the call over to Matt who will provide an analysis of our 2021 results and outlook for 2022. Thank you, Brian.