Star Group L.P.

Good day and welcome to the Star Group Fiscal 2021 First Quarter Results Conference Call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Witty, Ambassador Relations Moderator. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good morning. With me on the call today are Jeff Woosnam, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Rich Ambury, Chief Financial Officer. I would now like to provide a brief safe harbor statement. These comments can include full-looking statements that represent the company's expectations and beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties and may cause the company's actual performance to be materially different from the performance indicated or implied by such statements. are forward-looking statements, including those related to the impact of COVID-19 on the company. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations are disclosed in this conference call, the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2020, and the company's other filings with the SEC. and all forward-looking statements attributable to the company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements. Unless otherwise required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, after the date of this conference call. I now turn the call over to Jeff Woosnam. Jeff?

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. We began our new fiscal year well-positioned even in the face of a pandemic. While the impact of COVID-19 on the heating season has somewhat normalized, our results reflect 13.5% warmer weather within our footprint, dampening demand for home heating oil and propane. However, we maintained our focus on cost discipline, improving operating efficiency, and providing a high level of customer service. I'm pleased with our overall performance despite mild temperatures, including an increase in adjusted EBITDA of roughly $300,000 to $45 million. Our weather hedge also worked as designed during the period. I continue to be encouraged that the strategy we've been executing over the past two years is making Star a stronger and more resilient business, better prepared and able to adjust to varying weather conditions and other challenges, even including a global pandemic. As I've mentioned many times before, our ongoing success continues to be a direct reflection of the dedication and professionalism of our employees, who have remained 100% committed to serving our customers in the face of some very unusual circumstances. I could not be more proud of the efforts of this team. I'm happy to report that we acquired two propane companies in late December that added in aggregate approximately 7 million gallons of product annually. Both are well-established, growing businesses located within our current operating footprint, that complement our existing propane offering. We continue to evaluate additional acquisition opportunities that support our strategic growth plan. During the quarter, we also repurchased 2.6 million common units as a part of our ongoing unit repurchase plan, which we believe further enhances long-term shareholder value. As we navigate through the remainder of fiscal 2021, I'm confident in our ability to continue providing the best possible customer experience and improving bottom line results. With that, I'll turn the call over to Rich to provide additional comments on the quarter's results. Rich?