STERIS plc

Good morning, and welcome to the SARIS first quarter of 2025 earnings call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode for the duration of the call. And should you need any 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 telephone keypad. And to withdraw a question, you may press star, then two. Also, please be aware that today's call is being recorded. I would like to now turn the call over to Julie Winter of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Joe, and good morning, everyone. As usual, speaking on today's call will be Mike Tugich, our Senior Vice President and CFO, and Dan Crescio, our President and CEO. I do have a few words of caution before we open for comments. This webcast contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of today. Any redistribution, retransmission, or rebroadcast of this call without the express written consent of Staris is strictly prohibited. Some of the statements made during this review are, or may be considered, forward-looking statements. Many important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, those risk factors described in Staris's securities filing. The company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments. Staris' SEC filings are available through the company and on our website. In addition, on today's call, non-GAAP financial measures including adjusted earnings per diluted share, adjusted operating income, constant currency organic revenue growth, and free cash flow will be used. Additional information regarding these measures including definitions, is available in our press release, as well as reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures are presented during this call with the intent of providing greater transparency to supplemental financial information used by management and the board of directors in their financial analysis and operational decision making. With those cautions, I will hand the call over to Mike.

Thank you, Julie, and good morning, everyone. It is once again my pleasure to be with you this morning to review the highlights of our first quarter performance. Our discussions today will be focused on results from continuing operations. As you saw in the press release, we started the year strong with total revenue growth of 8% in the quarter, constant currency organic revenue growth of 6%, driven by volume, as well as 270 basis points of price. Gross margin for the quarter increased 30 basis points compared with the prior year, to 45.1%. Positive price and favorable material costs were somewhat offset by inflation. EBIT margin decreased 20 basis points to 22.3% of revenue compared with the first quarter last year. Increased compensation and higher insurance costs are impacting EBIT margins. The adjusted effective tax rate in the quarter was 21.3%, lower than the prior year due to favorable discrete item adjustments. Net income in the quarter was $201.7 million, and adjusted earnings per share was $2.03, a 10% increase over last year. Capital expenditures for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 totaled $108 million, and depreciation and amortization totaled $112.7. Capital expenditures were higher year over year, mainly due to timing. With the closing of the dental divestiture on May 31st, we were able to pay down debt reducing total debt to $2.3 billion. Total debt to EBITDA at quarter end was approximately 1.6 times gross leverage. Free cash flow for the first quarter was $195.7 million. Free cash flow was impacted by the timing of capital spending. Last week, we announced our 19th consecutive year of dividend increases. Our quarterly dividend increased 5 cents per share from 52 cents to 57 cents. With that, I will turn the call over to Dan.