Silgan Holdings Inc.

Thank you for joining the Sylvan Holdings 4th Quarter and Full Year 2020 Earnings Results Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I'd 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 COO, 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 statement. With that, I'll turn it over to Tony.

Thank you, Kim. Welcome, everyone, to Silgun's 2020 year-end conference call. With 2020 in our rear view and with high hopes of putting challenges of 2020 behind us, I want to thank the entire Silgun team, point out a few of the 2020 highlights, and provide a brief preview of our 2021 outlook. Bob will then review the financial performance for the full year of fourth quarter and provide more detail around the 2020 outlook. Afterward, as usual, Bob, Adam, and I will be pleased to take any questions that you have. Let me start by expressing our gratitude and deep respect for the entire Silgan team who rose to the challenges during these unprecedented times to meet the expanding needs of our customers, supplying essential products to our vulnerable communities. Throughout this pandemic, our employees have repeatedly demonstrated their strength, commitment, and the power of our performance-based culture as they did everything possible to ensure we met these unprecedented demands. As a result, we were able to achieve several milestones in 2020 and are well positioned for further growth in 2021. As covered in our press release, 2020 was an exceptional year for the company. Some of the highlights included We achieved record financial performance across the board, including revenue, which increased to $4.9 billion, with strong volumes experienced throughout the year. Adjusted net income per diluted share of $3.06 was up 42% versus the prior year. Free cash flow of $383.5 million, or $3.44 per diluted share, were at record levels. We attained our target leverage ratio just seven months post the recent acquisition, positioning the company to take advantage of future cash deployment opportunities. And we increased our cash dividend for the 16th consecutive year. While achieving these performance metrics, we also invested in several important growth initiatives, including completing the acquisition and integration of the dispensing operations Albea Group. Initiating commercial supply for a major pet food customer expansion in Eastern Europe. Managing several significant new business wins in the plastic container business, which are expected to generate further growth in 2021 and beyond. Initiating several capacity expansion projects for dispensing triggers and pumps to support significant customer growth anticipated in health and hygiene, product offerings, and meeting customers' increased need for local production. Simply put, our business franchises have never been stronger, our employees never more resolute, and our confidence in the future never more resolved. Therefore, as Bob will discuss in more detail, we're providing full year guidance for adjusted earnings per diluted share in the range of $3.30 to $3.45. The midpoint of this range represents a 10.3% increase over 2020. We also expect free cash flow to, again, be approximately $380 million.