MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS

Welcome and thank you for standing by. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. During the Q&A session, if you'd like to ask a question, you may press star 1 on your phone. Today's call is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. And now I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Whit Kincaid. You may begin.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on Mueller Water Products' first quarter 2021 conference call. We issued our press release reporting results of operations for the quarter ended December 31st, 2020, yesterday afternoon. A copy of the press release is available on our website, newerwaterproducts.com. Scott Hall, our president and CEO, and Marty Zakis, our CFO, will be discussing our 2021 first quarter results, market conditions, and our current outlook for 2021. This morning's call is being recorded and webcast live on the internet. We have also posted slides on our website to accompany today's discussion and to address forward-looking statements and our non-GAAP disclosure requirements. At this time, please refer to slide two. This slide identifies non-GAAP financial measures referenced in our press release, on our slides, and on this call. It discloses the reasons why we believe that these measures provide useful information to investors. Reconciliations between non-GAAP and GAAP financial measures are included in the supplemental information within our press release and on our website. Slide 3 addresses forward-looking statements made on this call. This slide includes cautionary information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in forward-looking statements. Please review slides 2 and 3 in their entirety. During this call, all references to a specific year or quarter, unless specified otherwise, refer to our fiscal year, which ends on September 30th. A replay of this morning's call will be available for 30 days at 1-800-839-4229. The archived webcast and corresponding slides will be available for at least 90 days in the investor relations section of our website. I'll now turn the call over to Scott.

Thanks, Whit. Thank you for joining us today. I hope everyone listening to our call continues to stay safe and healthy. Before turning the call over to Marty to discuss our 2021 first quarter results, I will provide a brief overview of the quarter. I'm very pleased with our team's performance this quarter. Their execution helped deliver a strong start to the year. We generated an 11.7% increase in consolidated net sales in the first quarter with growth in both segments. Infrastructure achieved 12.3% growth versus the prior year, with strong volume increases across most of our product lines. The strong growth primarily resulted from higher-end market demand driven by residential construction activity. Additionally, customers shifted some orders ahead of price increases and increased inventory levels for anticipated demand. Our teams remain focused on providing essential products and services to customers despite the operational headwinds resulting from the pandemic. We delivered a 19.5% increase in adjusted EBITDA with 120 basis point improvement in adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter. We continue to face challenges from the pandemic leading to higher manufacturing costs and are now experiencing elevated levels of inflation. Our profit growth and continued improvements in working capital management helped us increase free cash flow during the quarter, As a result, we ended the quarter with over $220 million in cash and our net debt leverage ratio decreased to 1.1 times versus the prior year. Most importantly, based on our strong first quarter performance and current expectations, we are raising our annual guidance for consolidated net sales and adjusted EBITDA growth. I will provide more details on our updated guidance later in the call. I want to remind everyone, that we released our first ESG report this past December. Our inaugural report reflects how sustainability has been an integral part of Mueller water products for many years. While highlighting our sustainability achievements to date, we discussed some of the ongoing initiatives to strengthen Mueller's focus and commitment to sustainability. Our entire organization is committed to minimizing our water and energy footprints while delivering smart products that are more efficient for our customers and safer for the environment. As we look to the future, our commitment to advancing our ESG goals will remain at the forefront of how we operate our business and positively impact our world. Later in the call, I will discuss our key strategies and markets and our outlook for the year. With that, I'll turn the call over to Marty.