MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS

Welcome, and thank you for standing by. At this time, all participants are in listening-only mode until the question and answer session at today's conference. At that time, you may press star 1 on your phone to ask a question. I'd like to inform all parties, today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. I would now like to turn the conference over to Whit Kincaid. Thank you. You may begin.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on Mueller Water Products' third quarter conference call. Yesterday afternoon, we issued our press release reporting results of operations for the quarter ended June 30th, 2023. 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 discuss our third quarter results, end markets, and current outlook for 2023. Following our prepared remarks, we will address questions related to the information covered on the call. As a reminder, please keep to one question and a follow-up, and then return to the queue. This morning's call is being recorded and webcast live on the Internet. We have posted slides on our website to accompany today's discussion. They also address forward-looking statements in 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 refuse slides two and three 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 1-866-510-4837. The archived webcast and corresponding slides will be available for at least 90 days on the Investor Relations section of our website. I'll now turn the call over to Scott.

Thanks, Whit, and good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining our third quarter earnings call. Our third quarter results came in below our expectations with both consolidated net sales and adjusted EBITDA below the prior year. We experienced a sequential decrease in orders during the quarter and manufacturing inefficiencies primarily associated with lower volumes and the ramp-up of our new foundry. We believe these lower order levels largely reflect the return to pre-pandemic lead times for most of our short cycle products, specifically iron gate valves and hydrants. Additionally, we believe the new residential construction end market continues to adjust to higher interest rates. As a result, we continue to be impacted by a more prolonged inventory correction than previously anticipated. Despite the challenges, I am encouraged by our execution in the quarter with the sequential improvement in adjusted EBITDA margin. Our past pricing actions across most product lines, again, more than offset ongoing inflationary pressures. Similar to the second quarter, water management solutions delivered strong results supported by an elevated backlog for hydrants and improved manufacturing performance. We expect the relatively low order rates for our short cycle products to continue in the fourth quarter. Also, we anticipate lower brass production levels relative to previous expectations. As a result, we are revising our annual guidance for 2023. We have taken actions to streamline our costs to help mitigate the headwinds from lower volumes, which I will address later in the call. We believe our end markets have strong long-term fundamentals. especially with the future benefits from the infrastructure bill. Our new foundry remains on track to fully ramp up by the end of fiscal 2024, positioning us to capture increased demand related to lead service line replacement projects. Though the external environment continues to evolve, we remain confident that we can return to pre-pandemic margins in 2025 after we get through the current transformational period. With that, I'll turn the call over to Marty to discuss our financial results.