Star Group L.P.

the Sun Group fiscal third quarter results conference call. All participants will be in 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 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Witte, Investor Relations Advisor. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good morning. With me on the call today are Jeff Woosnam, President and CEO, and Rich Amberry, CFO. I would now like to provide a brief safe harbor statement. This conference call may include forward-looking statements that represent the company's expectations and beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties. It may cause the company's actual performance to be materially different from the performance indicated or implied by such statements. All forward-looking statements other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it 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 30th, 2021, and the company's other filings with the SEC. All subsequent written and oral 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'd now like to turn the call over to Jeff Woosnam. Jeff?

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our fiscal third quarter results. As was the case last quarter, SAR continued to be challenged by higher petroleum costs and related expenses this period, exemplified by product costs that were nearly double those of 2021. The wholesale cost of home heating oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange varied from $3.27 per gallon to a historic high of $5.14 per gallon during the quarter. This increase led to higher operating expenses in areas such as bad debt reserves, bank charges, and vehicle fuels. Such elevated product costs, as well as volatility, also impacted net customer attrition, which was higher than the prior year period due to an increase in lost accounts related to price, credit, and fuel conversions. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, however, our net attrition remains in line with 2021, and we continue to be vigilant in our efforts to improve the customer experience and demonstrate our value proposition at every point of contact. As a reminder, we've experienced high energy price environments in the past, and I'm confident of the steps being taken to mitigate such conditions and build a stronger company in tandem. We're focused on operating efficiency, controlling SG&A expenses, and actively managing pricing and margins, while remaining dedicated to providing the utmost in customer service. In addition, after the quarter, we extended our credit facilities through 2027, expanding our ability to borrow up to $550 million for seasonal working capital requirements and increased the company's term loan to $165 million. As such, we believe STAR is well prepared and positioned for the upcoming heating season and beyond. I'm also pleased to report that we acquired one heating oil dealer during the period located within our existing operating footprint, which added approximately 3.8 million gallons annually to our portfolio. With that, I'll turn the call to Rich to provide additional comments in the quarter.