Silgan Holdings Inc.

Thank you for joining the Silgan Holdings Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Results Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Kim Ulmer, Vice President, Finance and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Joining me from the company today, I have Tony Allitt, Chairman and CEO, Adam Greenlee, President and CEO, and Bob Lewis, EVP and CFO. Before we begin the call today, we would like to make it clear that certain statements made today on this conference call may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made based upon management's expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting the company, and therefore involve a number of uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to, those described in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for 2019 and other filings with the SEC. Therefore, the actual results of operations or financial condition of the company could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. With that, I'll turn it over to Tony.

Thanks, Kim. Welcome, everyone, to our third quarter 2020 earnings conference call. Our agenda for this morning will focus on the financial performance for the third quarter and then to review the outlook for the remainder of the year. After these remarks, Bob, Adam, and I will be pleased to answer any questions you might have. As you saw in the press release, we delivered record adjusted earnings per diluted share of $1.04 for the third quarter, a 37% increase versus the prior year record results. This exceptional performance was a direct result of continued strong demand for our products across our business segments and the success of the entire Silken team to meet these demands in a very challenging environment. Since the beginning of this pandemic, our employees have continued working extended hours, followed rigorous safety protocols and ensured supply of essential products to consumers all over the world. Through these efforts, we've had an excellent opportunity to showcase to our customers just exactly why they do business with Sylvan. During the quarter, our metal food container business benefited from 17% growth in unit volumes, primarily as a result of the increased at-home food consumption and growing consumer awareness of the value and benefits of canned foods. as well as a shift in timing of certain pack-related volumes from the front half of the year to the third quarter. We were pleased to see this strong demand continue even though restaurant activity picked up over the summer, supporting the idea that new consumers are discovering these products and our customers are re-energized in marketing and promoting them. Our closures business had great demand across most of our product range, but particularly for dispensing systems where demand for surface cleaners, pumps, and foamers drove a 22% increase in these products. This continued strong demand was partly offset by continued weaker demand for certain beauty products, which, as expected, resulted in the recently acquired dispensing operations from Albea Group having a neutral impact on earnings per share in the quarter. Our plastics business has continued to demonstrate its market-leading service model, driving further volume growth of 14% and nearly doubling segment income versus the third quarter of 2019. This growth has been driven by strength in certain food and hygiene markets as well as continued success in securing new customer awards in light of our strong operational performance. We expect market demand levels to remain strong and our operating teams continue to deliver on behalf of our customers, leading us to once again increase our outlook for adjusted earnings per share for 2020 from $2.70 to $2.85 to a range of $2.92 to $2.97, which at the midpoint represents a 36% increase versus the prior year and a 10-year compounded annual growth rate of earnings of over 10%. Finally, given our and our customers' view that the stronger demand levels expect overall performance for the company to remain strong at this strong level in 2021. With that, I'll now turn over to Bob to review the financial results in more detail and provide additional explanation around our earnings estimates for 2020.