Spire Inc.

Good morning and welcome to the SPIRE second quarter fiscal year 2023 earnings 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 touch tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please also note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Scott Dudley, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our fiscal 2023 second quarter earnings call. We issued an earnings news release this morning, and you may access it on our website at spireenergy.com under newsroom. There's also a slide presentation that accompanies our webcast And you may download that either from our website or from the webcast site. On our site, you'll find it under investors and then events and presentations. Before we begin, let me cover our safe harbor statement and use of non-GAAP earnings measures. Today's call, including responses to questions, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although our forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are various uncertainties and risk factors that may cause future performance or results to be different than those anticipated. These risks and uncertainties are outlined in our quarterly and annual filings with the SEC. In our comments, we will be discussing net economic earnings and contribution margin, which are both non-GAAP measures used by management when evaluating our performance and results of operations. Explanations and reconciliations of these measures to their GAAP counterparts are contained in both our news release and the slide presentation. On the call today is Suzanne Sutherwood, President and CEO, Steve Lindsey, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Steve Rasche, Executive Vice President and CFO. Also in the room today are Scott Carter, President of SPIRE Missouri, and Adam Woodard, Vice President and Treasurer and CFO of our gas utilities. With that, I'll turn the call over to Suzanne.

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure once again to provide our quarterly update on SPIRE's performance, recent developments, and our outlook. First, I'd like to begin with reflections on my plans to retire as President and CEO of SPIRE at the end of this calendar year. I have to say that leading SPIRE for the past 12 years has been the privilege of a lifetime. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to lead the Laclede Group starting in 2011 and begin what would become a decade of growth. I'm proud to say that, as a team, we successfully transformed our company into an industry leader. We started by establishing our company mission and culture, a foundation that keeps us centered and strong. This foundation allowed us to develop our growth strategy that ultimately increased the scale of our utility business by investing in organic growth and expanding our portfolio of gas-related businesses. As you know, SPIRE now includes successful gas utility companies in Alabama, Mississippi, and Missouri, along with expanding midstream businesses. As our second quarter results demonstrate, having a diverse portfolio of natural gas businesses and different geography enhances our ability to consistently create value. All in all, over the past decade, we grew the company through acquisitions and expansions, ultimately increasing Spire's enterprise value more than six-fold, and we continue to be diligent in executing our strategy and in bringing value to our shareholders, customers, and community. We've done this all this while staying focused on the safety and reliability of our systems, reducing emissions, advancing innovation to better serve our customers, and investing in our employees who are the heart and soul of our company. For me personally, my retirement represents the culmination of a wonderful career spanning more than 40 years in the natural gas industry. As you know, based on decades of experience and a global perspective, I believe that natural gas is a vital part of America's energy future, and I'm energized to continue leading SPIRE through December and continue to represent SPIRE and our national industry as the chair of the American Gas Association. In terms of what's next for Spire, our board has initiated a thorough and comprehensive search, including internal and external candidates. Candidates include those who will build upon our culture and position Spire to continue long-term growth and success. Spire is a strong and well-positioned company with a proven growth strategy. We have confidence in that strategy and in the ability of our experience management team and employees to successfully execute on our plans as well, to the future. Now, I'll pass the call to Steve Lindsay.