STERIS plc

Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Bella, and I will be a conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to CERI's PLC2Q Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call, all lines having placed a mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I would now like to turn the conference over to Julie Winter, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Thank you, Bella, and good morning, everyone. Speaking on today's call this morning will be Karen Burton, Senior Vice President and CFO, and Dan Crestio, our President and CEO. And 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 SARIS 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' securities filings. 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 to 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 Karen.

Thank you, Julie, and good morning, everyone. It is my pleasure to be with you this morning to review the highlights of our second quarter performance from continuing operations. For the second quarter, total as reported revenue grew 10%. Constant currency organic revenue grew 9% in the quarter driven by volume, as well as 210 basis points of price. Gross margin for the quarter increased 60 basis points compared with the prior year to 44.3%. Positive price and productivity, primarily driven by volume, more than offset increased inflation and tariff costs. EBIT margin increased 90 basis points to 23.1% of revenue compared with the second quarter last year, mainly driven by operating expense leverage. The adjusted effective tax rate in the quarter was 24.5%. The year-over-year increase was driven primarily by changes in discrete item adjustments and geographic mix. Net income from continuing operations in the quarter was $244.5 million. Adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations were $2.47, a 15% increase over the prior year. Capital expenditures for the first half of fiscal 2026 totaled $180.1 million and depreciation and amortization totaled $241.1 million. We ended the quarter with $1.9 billion in total debt. Gross to EBITDA at quarter end was approximately 1.2 times. Free cash flow for the first half of fiscal 2026 was $527.7 million. a very strong start to the year driven by the increase in earnings and improvements in working capital. With that, I will now turn the call over to Dan for his remarks.