Parsons Corporation

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the first quarter 2021 Parsons Corporation earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star then one on your telephone keypad. Please be advised that today's conference may be recorded. If you require any further assistance, please press star then zero to reach an operator. I'd now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mr. Dave Spilly, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our first quarter 2021 financial results. Please note that we provide a presentation slides on the Investor Relations section of our website. On the call with me today are Chuck Harrington, Chairman and CEO, Carrie Smith, President and COO, and George Ball, CFO. Today, Chuck will discuss execution against our corporate strategy and ESG initiatives. Carrie will review our operational highlights, and then George will provide an overview of our first quarter financial results and 2021 guidance. We then will close with a question and answer session. Management may also make forward-looking statements during the call regarding future events, anticipated future trends, and the anticipated future performance of the company. We caution you that such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. These risk factors are described in our Form 10-K for fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and other SEC filings. Please refer to our earnings press release for Parson's complete forward-looking statement disclosure. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. Management will also make reference to non-GAAP financial measures during this call, and we remind you that these non-GAAP financial measures are not a substitute for their comparable GAAP measures. I now will turn the call over to Chuck.

Thank you, Dave. Welcome to Parson's first quarter 2021 earnings call. We're pleased with our performance in the first quarter. The quarter was marked by strong bookings and significant margin expansion. with overall results in line with internal expectations and historical seasonal patterns. For the first quarter, we reported a 170 basis point year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA margin. We had a 1.2 times book to bill ratio and a $61 million improvement in our free cash flow. Adjusted EBITDA and EBITDA margin exceeded our expectations. and revenue and cash flow results were in line with guidance we provide in our last earnings call. We had another strong quarter of contract bookings with six wins over $100 million. In addition, we had a great start to the second quarter with contract wins totaling approximately $1 billion to date. We've maintained our healthy balance sheet, supporting continued investments in our organic and inorganic growth strategy. We ended the first quarter with a net leverage ratio of approximately 0.7 turns. Our low leverage and liquidity position enable us to continue our strategic investments in accretive acquisitions, in technology, and in our workforce. As I previously indicated, we're driven by our core values. Over the past year, we've taken steps to enhance our commitment to ESG, including at the board level. We expanded the charter of our Corporate Governance and Responsibility Committee with additional responsibilities overseeing our ESG program. This reflects our belief that ESG excellence is a critical component of continued growth, resiliency, and most importantly, long-term shareholder value. We've also linked a portion of our annual executive compensation to our six core values, with specific targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing workforce diversity. In today's press release, you'll also notice that Parsons continues to win distinguished awards for its hiring, diversity, and ethical business practices. We're proud of our culture and our employees and the accomplishments they've made to deliver customer mission success while also improving the quality of life in the communities in which we live and work. As covered in our April 20th press release, I've announced my retirement after 39 years of Parsons and 13 years as CEO. I'm very excited that the Board of Directors unanimously appointed Kerry Smith, our President and COO, to succeed me on July 1st. At that time, I'll become Executive Chairman of Parsons Board and will ensure a seamless transition. Carrie's been responsible for global operations and driving growth in both of our segments since January of 2019. Her deep knowledge of our business, customer relationships, and proven performance makes her the natural choice to continue to execute on our long-term strategy and deliver exceptional solutions to our customers and value to our shareholders. Carrie and I are aligned on our vision for the company. I know she'll continue to build on our 77 years of success and continue to forge ahead to transform Parsons into an industry-leading global technology company, supporting a more sustainable, safer, and connected world. In summary, we produced strong bookings and significant margin expansion with results in line with our expectations. We won large contracts, maintained our healthy balance sheet, and continue to be recognized for our longstanding and industry-leading ESG initiatives. Finally, I want to thank our shareholders, analysts, employees, and customers for their extraordinary support. Your commitment to Parsons has been extremely important to our success, and we look forward to continuing our partnership. With that, I'll turn the call over to Carrie to discuss our first quarter operational highlights. Carrie?