Waste Connections, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Waste Connections First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. During the presentation, our participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we'll conduct a question-and-answer session. At the time you have a question, please press the 1 by the 4 on your telephone. If any time in the conference you need to reach an operator, you may press the star by the 0. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, Wednesday, May 4, 2022. Now, I would like to turn the conference over to Worthing Jackman, President and CEO. Please go right ahead.

Thank you, Operator, and good morning. I'd like to welcome everyone to this conference call to discuss first quarter results and to provide a detailed outlook for the second quarter. Joining me this morning is Marianne Whitney, our CFO. As noted in our earnings release, we're extremely pleased by our strong start to the year, with record solid waste pricing growth driving underlying margin expansion in spite of inflationary pressures. Our 50 basis points year-over-year decline in adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter included 90 basis points combined margin impact as expected from 10 million of COVID-related frontline support in January and acquisitions completed since the prior year period. Looking ahead, further sequential improvement in solid waste pricing growth, increasing E&P waste activity, and strong operational execution should continue to differentiate our performance. We're on track to meet or exceed our full-year adjusted free cash flow outlook of $1.15 billion, and the elevated cadence of solid waste acquisition activity has continued with approximately $175 million in annualized revenues closed year-to-date, confirming our expectations for another outsized year of such activity. Before we get into much more detail, let me turn the call over to Mary Ann for our forward-looking disclaimer and other housekeeping items.

Thank you, Worthing, and good morning. The discussion during today's call includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. Actual results could differ materially from those made in such forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are discussed both in the cautionary statement included in our May 3rd earnings release, and in greater detail in waste connections filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Securities Commission or similar regulatory authorities in Canada. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there may be additional risks of which we are not presently aware or that we currently believe are immaterial, which could have an adverse impact on our business. We make no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may change after today's date. On the call, we will discuss non-GAAP measures such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income attributable to waste connections on both a dollar basis and per diluted share, and adjusted free cash flow. Please refer to our earnings releases for a reconciliation of such non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures. Management uses certain non-GAAP measures to evaluate and monitor the ongoing financial performance of our operations. Other companies may calculate these non-GAAP measures differently. I will now turn the call back over to Worthing.