Xylem Inc.

Welcome to Xylem's fourth quarter 2023 results conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need 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. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Andrea Vanderberg, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Xylem's fourth quarter 2023 earnings call. With me today are Chief Executive Officer Matthew Pine and Chief Financial Officer Bill Grogan. They will provide their perspectives on Xylem's fourth quarter and full year 2023 results and discuss our outlook and guidance for 2024. Following our prepared remarks, we will address questions related to the information covered on the call. I'll ask that you please keep to one question and a follow-up, and then return to the queue. As a reminder, this call and our webcast are accompanied by a slide presentation available in the Investors section of our website. A replay of today's call will be available until midnight, February 13th. Additionally, the call will be available for playback via the Investors section of our website under the heading Investor Events. Please turn to slide two. We will make some forward-looking statements on today's call, including references to future events or developments that we anticipate will or may occur in the future. These statements are subject to future risks and uncertainties, such as those factors described in Xylem's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with SEC. Please note that the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements publicly to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. And actual events or results could differ materially from those anticipated. Please turn to slide three. We have provided you with a summary of our key performance metrics, including both GAAP and non-GAAP metrics. For purposes of today's call, all references will be on organic and or adjusted basis unless otherwise indicated. And non-GAAP financials have been reconciled for you and are included in the appendix section of the presentation. Now, please turn to slide four, and I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Matthew Pines.

Thanks, Andrea. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. It's a pleasure to share the Xylem team's exceptional performance in the fourth quarter of a transformational year for the enterprise. The team delivered both Q4 and full-year results, exceeding expectations on revenue and earnings per share. Looking at the fourth quarter, strong demand drove organic revenue growth of 9%, with discipline execution delivering EBITDA margin expansion of 90 basis points. That drove double-digit orders growth, and our backlog is now more than $5 billion. Our Q4 performance capped off a year in which the team over-delivered in every quarter. Full-year organic revenues were up 12%, with EBITDA margin expansion of 190 basis points and adjusted earnings per share growth of 20%. The team even delivered a vocal run rate cost synergies in 2023 ahead of plan, Both the quarter and the full year give us very strong momentum entering 2024. Despite a dynamic environment and the excitement of our combination with Avoqua, the team stayed focused on serving our customers. Joining forces with Avoqua has put the sector's most advanced portfolio of capabilities in the hands of our customers and opened up new opportunities to address even more of their water challenges. In our last emergency call, we shared a bit about the synergy traction we're seeing between the legacy Evoqua services business and Xylem's dewatering business. And since then, we've seen the momentum continue to build as the team wins in the marketplace with our combined offering. On January 1st, we made it even easier for our customers to access the full breadth of our capabilities with the creation of the water solutions and services segment, effectively combining Xylem and Evoqua services offerings in a realigned segment structure. The move supports the continuing growth of our services business in expansion of recurring revenues. And it puts Xylem in an even stronger position to capture value by serving industrial water customers who are increasingly outsourcing water management as water stresses intensify. Looking forward, we are starting off strong in 2024 with momentum from our outperformance in 23. and continued healthy demand in our major end markets. Though we're keeping a close eye on demand dynamics in China and are taking a prudent view of end markets for applied water, which is our most cyclical segment, our backlog across the business is a source of continuing strength, especially in MNCS. We also feel very confident in our ability to drive continuing margin expansion by focusing our energy on the parts of the business delivering the greatest value. Overall, we're well positioned for profitable and sustainable growth. We expect 2024 organic revenues to be up 3% to 5% with solid EBITDA margin expansion, resulting in earnings per share between $4 and $4.20. I'll now turn it over to Bill to walk through the quarter's results and our outlook for 2024 in more detail.