AMG Critical Materials N.V.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's ANG Q4 and full-year earnings release. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions during the question-and-answer session. You may register to ask a question at any time by pressing star 1 on your touch-tone phone. Please note, this call may be recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn today's program over to Michelle Fisher. Please go ahead.

Welcome to AMG's fourth quarter 2022 earnings call. Joining me on this call are Dr. Hein Schimmelbusch, the Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jackson Dunkel, the Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Eric Jackson, the Chief Operating Officer. AMG's fourth quarter 2022 earnings release issued yesterday is on AMG's website. Today's call will begin with a review of the fourth quarter 2022 business highlights by Dr. Schimmelbusch. Mr. Dunkel will comment on AMG's financial results, and Mr. Jackson will discuss operations. At the completion of Mr. Jackson's remarks, Dr. Schimmelbusch will comment on strategy and outlook. We will then open the call to take your questions. Before I pass the call to Dr. Schimmelbusch, I would like to expressly refer you to our statements on forward-looking statements and the meaning thereof. as we have used at all previous occasions and we will use at this earnings call, and which explanatory statement has been published as part of our financial presentation and at our website, all in connection with this earnings call. I will now pass the floor to Dr. Sherman Bush, AMG's Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer.

Thank you, Michelle. AMG's full year 2022 EBTA revenue, cross-profit, operating cash flow, return on capital employed, and net income were the highest in the company's history by significant margins. This result was driven by the AMG clean energy materials segment, specifically AMG Lithium and its Brazil operation, and an EBTA contribution of 215 million or 63% of AMG's total EBTA for the year. We have been able to increase our enabled CO2 reduction portfolio from 79 million metric tons in 2021 to 99 million metric tons in 2022. In addition, we reaffirm our two-branched commitment to reduce our CO2 emissions and increase our enabled CO2 savings through 2030. We have brought AMG's largest investment project to date, the Sainsville, Ohio, Vanadium Recycling Construction Project to completion on time and on budget. and we expect to reach full production in the second quarter 2023. The spodumene production expansion from 90,000 tons to 130,000 tons in AMG Brazil is on schedule, and the objective is to be full capacity in the second half of 2023. The AMG Lithium Refinery in Bitterfeld, Germany, Europe's first lithium hydroxide refinery is under construction, and commissioning for the first 20,000-ton module in the battery-grade lithium hydroxide upgrader will commence in the fourth quarter of 2023. It took us several years, more than five, to build a lithium business. In 2022, obviously, we made significant progress. We expect that progress to unfold as we gain access to additional resources to support additional hydroxide modules. We have integrated our tantalum operations in Brazil into a joint venture with Nippon Mining and Metals, the world leader in the tantalum downstream market. Our tantalum operations are an important contributor to the Mibra mine being such a low-cost spodumene producer. With the expansion of spodumene, our tantalum production increases from 2,060 pounds per year to 370,000 pounds per year. Shell AMG Recycling PV is advancing its project in the Middle East, in particular the first phase of the Supercenter project based on a long-term supply agreement with Aramco. Plant design, optimization, site selection, and permitting activities are progressing, and the so-called FEL3 partnering with Hatch Engineering began in December 2022. Lever Power Management Systems, BV, a new company, has built and successfully commissioned the first AMG hybrid energy storage system and the battery for industrial peak shaving application and it is expanding at the same location to provide an internal grid to rooftop solar energy integration. We also sold our first HES battery in December to WipoTech GmbH Several HES projects are in various stages of implementation. LIWA Power Management Systems has contracted the building of these batteries with AMG Engineering. Before I pass the floor to Jackson Dunkel, AMG's Chief Financial Officer, AMG reaffirms its guidance for the full year 2023 to exceed 400 million EBITDA. Now, Jackson.