Smurfit WestRock PLC

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Smurfit WestRock 2026 Q2 Results Webcast and Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in the listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1 and 1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 and 1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Ciaran Potts, Smurfit WestRock Group VP Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Sharon. As a reminder, statements in today's press release and presentation and the comments made by management during this call may be considered forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the factors identified in the earnings release and in our SEC filings as well as those discussed in our investor update presentation on our median term plan. The company undertakes no obligation to revise any forward-looking statements. Today's remarks also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures where applicable reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are included in today's earnings release and in the appendix to the accompanying presentation. which are available at investors.smurfitwestrock.com. In addition, today's remarks include statements about Smurfit WestRock's medium term financial goals and capital allocation priorities. These goals are aspirational and actual performance may differ, possibly materially, and no guarantees are made that these goals will be met. I'll now hand you over to Tony Smurfit, CEO of Smurfit WestRock.

Thanks, Ciaran. I'm happy to be joined today by Ken Bowles, our EVP and CFO. Our second quarter results demonstrate the continued progress we have made in Smurfit WestRock with an adjusted EBITDA of $1.14 billion and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 14.2%. This is especially impressive when set against the very significant input costs we have absorbed with only early stage momentum on price recovery. Cost increases, especially in freight, have been a feature of the quarter and as a result we have raised container board prices. These will be recovered through our converting operations as we progress through this year and into next. Market conditions for practically all paper grades remain as tight as I can remember. Our focus remains on being the most innovative packaging partner, delivering superior quality and service for our customers and the go-to sustainable packaging partner of choice. And as such, we remain committed to improving all aspects of our business. We're also relentless in our approach to cost takeout, which we have again demonstrated through asset optimization with a number of closures in both our North American and EMAA and APAC regions. We have also continued focus on our owner-operator model which I'm happy to report is showing considerable progress as we develop the new Smurfit WestRock culture. Turning to the regions and firstly to North America where I'm happy to report progress and development across practically all areas. Most importantly, Our full team for the future is now in place and delivering both cultural and operational change. Nearly all our paper mill system is fully booked and no commercial downtime is anticipated for the remainder of the year. We have implemented pricing initiatives in both domestic and overseas markets and shortage of supply is the current issue surrounding this business area. In our corrugated box operations, I'm delighted to report continued progress as we adopt our business model. A number of recurring loss makers has considerably reduced and our focus on innovation and customer service is attracting significant new business. Our quality and service metrics continue to improve. For example, year to date, our quality metric has improved by over 25%. In our consumer business, we have also made significant progress with new investments coming online, which will improve both productivity and our cost position. Importantly, we've also won new business because of our great agnostic approach that we have adopted. In our EMA and APAC region, I'm very proud of the outperformance this region continues to deliver. The region consistently offers customers the most innovative and sustainable packaging as customers navigate a complex environment. A recent innovation event intended by over 200 customers demonstrated the depth of knowledge that we offer across all paper-based substrates. In our fully integrated mill system, similar to North America, we're fully booked and we expect to remain in this position. Our corrugated business remains very solid with a better performance forecast for the second half as we recover input costs with the normal lag period. Our consumer business is now fully integrated and there are many cross-selling and development opportunities that we're developing across Europe and Asia. Turning to LATAM region, we continue to see a strong performance across most countries in which we operate with two larger countries, Brazil and Colombia performing very well. Our approach to innovation across the region is a significant differentiator and our market positions give us opportunities for growth. This region is an attractive region for both internal investment and acquisitions as we look to the future. I'll now turn you over to Ken to take you through some financials.