McKesson Corporation

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to today's McKesson Q3 earnings call. I'd like to remind everyone this call is being recorded, and at this time I'll turn the floor over to Craig Mercer. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Craig. Good afternoon, and welcome to the McKesson fiscal 2019 third quarter earnings call. I'm joined today by John Hammergren, McKesson's chairman and CEO, Brian Tyler, McKesson's president and chief operating officer and incoming CEO, and Britt Vitilone, McKesson's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. John will provide opening remarks, Brian will provide a business update, and Britt will review the financial results for the quarter. After Britt's comments, we will open the call for your questions. We plan to end the call promptly after one hour at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Before we begin, I remind listeners that during the course of this call, we will make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties regarding the operations and future results of McKesson. In addition to the company's periodic, current, and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, please refer to the text of our press release and forward-looking statement slides for a discussion of the risks associated with such forward-looking statements. Please note that on today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. In particular, we will reference adjusted earnings, adjusted operating profit and margin, and free cash flow, and items excluding foreign currency exchange effects. We believe these non-GAAP measures provide useful information for investors with regard to the company's operating performance and comparability of financial results period over period. Please refer to our press release announcing third quarter fiscal 2019 results and the supplemental slide presentation for further information and a reconciliation of the non-GAAP performance measures to the GAAP financial results. the fiscal 2019 versus fiscal 2018 results discussed today. Finally, for those who have not yet met her, I would like to introduce Holly Weiss. Holly Weiss was recently appointed Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. My transition to Holly will be completed ahead of our year-end earnings call. On a personal note, I would like to thank John, Brian, and Britt, as well as the investment community, for the opportunity to work with everyone over the last few years. And with that, thank you, and here's John Hamilton. Thank you.

Thanks, Craig. As you're probably aware, as he just mentioned it, this is his last earnings call. I want to thank you, Craig, for your invaluable service to our team over many years and in various roles, and I wish you the best in your future endeavors. And, Ali, welcome as our new head of investor relations. And thank you all for joining us on our call today. This is my 79th earnings call with our investor community, and this call also marks my final earnings call as the leader of McKesson. As you know, I previously announced my retirement that takes effect at the end of our fiscal year. We are making solid progress with our strategic growth initiative, and despite some headwinds, the company is in a strong financial position. McKesson's future is bright. It's been my great honor and privilege to lead this company as chairman and CEO for nearly 20 years. Together, we've created an organization that plays a unique and significant role in health care. No one is better equipped than Brian to lead McKesson into the future. He's a gifted leader and an innovator. with deep industry knowledge and unwavering commitment to customers' success. He has a strong vision for the future of healthcare, both in the U.S. and globally, as well as for how McKesson will continue to play an integral role in helping improve efficiency and effectiveness of patient care delivery. Perhaps most important, Brian personifies our iCare shared principles. In fact, he helped me create them as a member of my leadership team nearly 20 years ago. Throughout his tenure at McKesson, he's always placed the enterprise first, focused on teamwork, collaboration, and communication, and has consistently made employee engagement a high priority. I know that Brian is the right leader to take McKesson into the future. In addition, I might add, he's a great husband and a father, as well as a friend and a trusted advisor of mine. With my retirement, McKesson will be splitting the role of chairman and CEO. Ed Miller, our current lead independent director, will become McKesson's new independent chairman, effective April 1st. Ed has developed a thorough understanding of McKesson over his 10 years of service and serves as a respected leader and will provide continuity for our board. Over the balance of the fiscal year, the entire board and I will work closely with Brian and Ed to ensure a smooth transition. And after April 1st, I will continue to support McKesson in an advisory capacity and I will remain chairman of the Board of Change Healthcare. I'll be forever grateful for the many things we've accomplished together as a team here at McKesson and for the incredible friendships I've made along the way. McKesson is truly a special place with our rich history, innovation, culture, and most important, our people. Every day I'm humbled by the opportunity to lead this great organization and together with our employees make a positive impact across healthcare. I might also mention that with many of you I've worked for years and I want to thank you for your support over all of these years and your friendship in some cases. You've always treated us with great respect. You've asked tough questions but fair questions, and we've attempted to be as transparent as we possibly can. So I appreciate the support. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Brian. Brian?