Sonoco Products Company

Head of Investor Relations and Global Marketing Communications. Roger, please go ahead.

Thank you, Warren. And good morning, everyone. Last evening, we issued a news release and posted an investor presentation that reviews Sunoco's third quarter 2026 financial results. Both are posted on in the investor relations section of our website at sunoco.com. A replay of today's conference call will be available on our website later today and we'll also post a transcript. If you'll turn to slide two, I will remind you that during today's call, we will discuss a number of forward-looking statements based on current expectations, estimates, and projections. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Therefore, actual results may differ materially. Additionally, today's presentation includes the use of non-GAAP financial measures, which management believes provides useful information to investors about the company's financial condition and results of operations. Further information about the company's use of non-GAAP financial measures, including definitions as well as reconciliations to GAAP measures, is available under the Investor Relations section of our website. Joining me this morning are Howard Coker, President and CEO, and Paul Joachimczyk, Chief Financial Officer. For today's call, we'll provide remarks followed by your question. If you'll turn to slide four in your presentation, I'll now turn the call over to Howard.

Thank you, Roger, and good morning, everyone. During the third quarter, our businesses faced a combination of challenges. Through strong productivity initiatives and rigorous cost control, our teams were able to mitigate a significant portion of these issues and deliver resilient results. Paul will cover the detailed financial results. So if you'll turn to slide five, I'll focus my comments on the operating performance of our industrial and consumer packaging segments. Where we maintain leadership positions in uncoated recycled paperboard, Metal and paper cans and closures. Our industrial segment delivered another solid quarter with results essentially in line with the second quarter despite a dynamic operating environment. Productivity continued to be a key driver while North America URB trade sales increased 10% year over year and mill utilization remained strong at 94%. wiring cable real sales continue to perform well with double digit sales growth. Overall volume mix in the industrial segment was modestly positive. An additional URB pricing realized in September further strengthens our ability to recover rising input costs moving forward. Results from our consumer packaging segments were below our expectations. Volume Mix was down 3% year-over-year, primarily due to hot and dry weather conditions and unfavorable price-cost relationships during the quarter. There were several encouraging areas of performance in the consumer segment. Our international paper can operations delivered double-digit volume growth supported by continued solid demand for snipe products across emerging markets. Also, U.S. aerosol cans Demand was up 7%, while productivity initiatives generated strong operational benefits across the business. As illustrated on slide six, we faced several external factors in the third quarter. Drought conditions across part of both Europe and the United States negatively impacted crop yields, reducing demand for food cans. At the same time, inflationary pressures across raw materials, freight, energy, and other operating inputs were simply beyond our expectations. As shown on slide seven, we have spent much of 2026 managing a dynamic business environment. Freight costs alone increased $17 million year over year in the quarter, while diesel prices, which had stabilized in early July, accelerated to record levels, topping $6.50 per gallon in the U.S. Energy, raw materials, other operating costs also continued to rise. Old corrugated containers, or OCC, our largest industrial raw material input, increased another $25 per ton during the quarter and is now 90% higher than a year ago. As a result, total URB production costs have increased more than $60 per ton year over year. In addition, the Euro adjusted relative to the US dollar during the quarter, which reduced the translated value of our European sales and earnings. While these factors were significant, our focus has not changed. We're driving productivity, we're managing costs aggressively, and implementing pricing actions where appropriate. With that brief summary, let me turn it over to Paul, and then I'll come back with some final comments.