Spire Inc.

Hello and welcome to the SPIRE third quarter 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. To withdraw your question, you may press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Scott Dudley, head of investor relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Welcome to SPIRE's fiscal 2023 third 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 is a slide presentation that accompanies our webcast, and you may download it from either the webcast site or from our website 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. Though 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 is 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. Today, I'd like to provide an update on SPIRE's quarterly performance, recent developments, and outlook. Let me start with third quarter results. We reported a loss of 42 cents per share for the quarter, well below last year's results and our expectations. The results this quarter reflect quite a few moving parts, including lower demand and the impacts of milder weather this year, as well as high costs in the current inflationary environment. Steve and Steve will speak more about our results for all our businesses, both operational and financial. But it's important to point out that our Spire employees continue to do what they do best every day, serving our 1.7 million homes and businesses. In that spirit, know that we continue our efforts to create paths for more efficient and sustainable regulatory recovery while ensuring we provide safe, cost-effective, and reliable energy for our customers and communities. Additionally, we are well positioned for a strong rebound in 2024 as interest rates moderate, cost structure management progresses, and usage-related margin is restored. We continue to execute our midstream strategy through expansion and acquisition of storage facilities and pipeline systems. Our strategy is centered around highly contracted utility supply-focused assets that produce steady and consistent earnings, much like our gas utilities, These businesses also bring longer-term growth opportunities that take advantage of the increasing demand for natural gas. We believe our future is bright. Spire is a strong, well-positioned company with a proven growth strategy. We have confidence in that strategy and the ability of our experience management team and employees to successfully execute our plan well into the future. We also have a skilled and experienced board of directors to guide us. Last week, we announced the election of two additional directors to our board, increasing the size to 11, adding former executives who will build upon the strong oversight and governance FIRE has enjoyed in the past. Denny Farrar brings extensive financial industry experience, having served in various roles with Edward Jones, including Chief Operating Officer and CIO. Paul Coots retired in 2020 after a 38-year career in the energy sector, including two decades at Dominion Energy. where he was most recently served as the President and CEO of Dominion's Power Generation Group. Now, I'll pass the call to Steve Lindsey.