UGI Corporation

Hello, and welcome to UGI Corporation Q1 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask the question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. I would now like to turn the conference over to Tomika Morse. You may begin.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our fiscal 2025 first quarter earnings call. With me today are Bob Saxon, President and CEO, and Sean O'Brien, CFO. On today's call, we will review our first quarter financial results and key business highlights before concluding with a question and answer session. Before we begin, let me remind you that our comments today include certain forward-looking statements which management believes to be reasonable as of today's date only. Actual results may differ significantly because of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Please read our earnings release and our annual report for an extensive list of factors that could affect results. We assume no duty to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that are different from expectations. We will also describe our business using certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures to the comparable GAAP measures are available within our presentation. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Bob.

Thanks, Tamika, and good morning to all of you. Yesterday, we reported our fiscal 2025 first quarter results with adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.37. 14% higher than the prior year. Solid underlying performance by our reportable segments combined with effective tax management led to the strong fiscal first quarter results. In our natural gas businesses, we benefited from strong demand and higher gas rates at Mountaineer, our West Virginia gas utility. While at our global LPG businesses, we realized relatively comparable volumes and reduced operating and administrative expenses when compared to the prior year period. These results underscore the advantages of our diverse portfolio and the opportunities to drive consistent growth through operational excellence. Also of note during the quarter, we deployed over $200 million in capital investment, primarily in the natural gas businesses. These investments advance our infrastructure modernization program enhancing system reliability, safety, and operational efficiency, and support strong customer additions that we continue to experience at the utilities. Also, at UGI Utilities, our commitment to service excellence led to the company being recognized as a Cogent 2024 Utility Customer Champion. This prestigious award validates our customer-centric approach and places us among the top performers in customer satisfaction across the utility sector. In our midstream and marketing segment, we have substantially completed several RNG facilities where gas will be delivered into local markets. The projects have been completed on time and on budget and are good additions to our business, providing immediate returns to investment tax credits. Also, in the midstream and marketing segment, As part of our joint venture in the Pine Run Gathering System, we acquired Superior Appellation, which owns and operates three gathering systems in Pennsylvania. These systems are attractive with long-term acreage dedications, and the largest is connected to one of UGI Energy Services' gathering systems, which should enhance future synergy. The transaction, which was valued at $120 million, was fully funded by debt at Pine Run, which now has a debt-to-equity ratio of approximately 49%. Lastly, the transaction will be modestly accretive to earnings in the first year of operations. Next, last week we filed a gas base rate case with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for EGI Utilities requesting an overall distribution rate increase of approximately $110 million. This rate case supports over $750 million of investments that will be made to improve the natural gas distribution system, facilities, and technology to promote safety and reliability. Next, I'd like to provide an update on our fiscal 2025 priorities that will drive future performance. As mentioned on the Q4 earnings call, we are strengthening our foundation through a renewed focus on our people and culture to create a mindset that encourages breakthrough thinking. Added to that is providing the tools and training for employees to translate the breakthrough thinking to breakthrough performance. I firmly believe that this will drive significant and sustainable improvements, which translate to stronger business performance and financial results. At Amerigas, we must significantly enhance our business processes, commercial practices, and service quality. At the end of calendar 2024, Mike Sharp came on board as President of Amerigas, and having worked closely with Mike before, I have seen firsthand his ability to drive organizational transformation and operational excellence. In his first month, Mike has revised and is implementing his new organizational structure to better align with the needs of the business, strengthen the commercial practices, streamline decision-making, and improve accountability to create an improved customer experience. Working with his leadership team, Mike has developed a roadmap focusing on five key pillars designed to elevate the customer experience, address the inefficiencies within our processes, optimize Amerigas supply chain and logistics network, and strengthen its financial performance. back in september america has transitioned its field operations to a more localized model with the introduction of over 90 different pods across its footprint we believe the pod structure strikes the right balance between serving our customers locally while providing the benefits of centralized supporting functions driving greater accountability delivery efficiency and oversight of customer relationships Although we were at the beginning stages of this journey, this model has already yielded greater operational insight and better workflow, improving the way we work and our business processes, and will address the root cause of the challenges that our customers face. As I just noted, it's the early innings of transformation, but there is no doubt that the work ahead will lead to a better Amerigas for our customers, employees, and shareholders. Our longer-term strategy remains designed to further optimize and grow our premier natural gas businesses and drive operational transformation and strong execution in our propane businesses. This strategy, coupled with disciplined capital allocation, strategic portfolio optimization, and strong balance sheet management will better position UGI to deliver sustainable growth and long-term value creation. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Sean, who will walk you through our financial results for the quarter.