MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS

Good morning and thank you for standing by. Your lines are in a listen only mode until the question and answer session of today's conference. At that time you may press star followed by the number one to ask a question. Please unmute your phones and state your first and last name when prompted. Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Whit Kincaid. Thank you. You may begin.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on Mueller Water Products' fourth quarter and fiscal 2024 conference call. Yesterday afternoon, we issued our press release reporting results of operations for the quarter and year-ended September 30, 2024. A copy of the press release is available on our website, MuellerWaterProducts.com. I am joined this morning by Marty Zakis, our Chief Executive Officer, Paul McAndrew, our President and Chief Operating Officer, and Steve Heinrichs, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer. Following our prepared remarks, we will address questions related to the information covered on this call. As a reminder, please keep the one question in a follow-up and then return to the queue. 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. They also 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 the 30th of September. A replay of this morning's call will be available for 30 days at 1-866-360-8712. 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 Maury.

Thanks, Witt. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our quarterly earnings call. I'll start with a brief overview of our fourth quarter and full year performance. We are pleased with our strong finish to a record year with our fourth quarter net sales and adjusted EBITDA exceeding expectations. For the quarter, we delivered a double-digit year-over-year increase in consolidated net sales with healthy order levels that were supported by steady end-market demand and focused customer service. We increased our fourth quarter consolidated gross margin by 250 basis points year-over-year due to higher volumes and improved operational execution. We also increased fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA by approximately $17 million year over year and improved adjusted EBITDA margin by 240 basis points. In 2024, despite a challenging external environment, we achieved record levels for net sales, gross margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income per diluted share, and free cash flow. Our outstanding performance this year is a testament to our dedicated employees who serve our customers and communities with tireless energy and passion. Our consolidated net sales exceeded $1.3 billion for the year, driven by a return to normalized lead times, improvements in customer service, and resilient end market demand. We increased full-year consolidated growth and adjusted EBITDA margins by more than 500 basis points year-over-year, supported by improving manufacturing performance, favorable price cost, and disciplined SG&A spending. For the year, we delivered record adjusted net income per share of 96 cents, which increased around 52% year-over-year and generated $191 million of free cash flow, an increase of $130 million versus the prior year. Our 2025 outlook, which Steve will address later in the call, anticipates continued net sales growth and adjusted EBITDA margin improvement as we focus on executing key strategies while managing external challenges. During the quarter, we published our fourth ESG report, which highlights our commitment and ongoing progress to becoming a more sustainable, innovative, and impactful organization. To help us achieve that goal, we are committed to providing products and solutions that help cities and municipalities repair and replace their aging infrastructure, increase the resiliency of their distribution networks, respond to water-related climate impacts, and ensure the health and safety of their communities. Mueller's legacy is built on a foundation of innovative engineering excellence and a deep understanding of and passion to protect the environment in which we live. Our spirit of innovation is not just about creating new solutions. It is about solving real-world problems that affect every individual living in our cities and communities. And we can't do this without the hard work and dedication of our employees around the world. I'll now turn it over to Paul to address some of our commercial and operational insights. Thanks, Marty.