Altus Group Limited

Good morning. My name is Jemi, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Altus Group fourth quarter and full year 2023 financial results conference call and webcast. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, Please star one, followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, again, press the star one. I would now like to turn the conference over to Camilla. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Danny. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Altus Group's fourth quarter and year-end conference call webcast for the period ended December 31st, 2023. Our disclosure materials, notably the press release, MD&A, financial statements, and the slides accompanying our prepared remarks, are all available on our website and, as required, have been filed to Cedar Plus after market close this afternoon. Some of our remarks on this call and in our disclosure may contain forward-looking information that is based on certain assumptions and, therefore, subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Please refer to our forward-looking statements disclaimer in today's materials. Please be reminded that Altus Group uses certain non-GAAP financial measures, ratios, total segments measures, capital management measures, and supplementary and other financial measures as defined in National Instrument 5212. We believe that these measures may assist investors in assessing an investment in our shares as they provide additional insight into our performance. Readers are cautioned that they are not defined performance measures and do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS, and may differ from the similar computations as reported by other entities, and accordingly, may not be comparable to financial measures as reported by those entities. These measures should not be considered an isolation or a substitute for financial measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. An explanation of these measures is detailed in today's IR materials. I would also like to point out that unless otherwise specified, all percentage growth rates we refer to on this call today will be on a constant currency basis over the same period in 2022. However, basis point margin expansion will be on an as-reported basis. Joining us today are CEO Jim Hannon, our CFO Pavan Shabrak, who will review our financial performance, as well as our Chief Technology Officer, David Ross, who will provide a brief update on our technology roadmap. Okay, over to you, Jim.

Thanks, Camilla. Thank you everyone for joining us today. 2023 was a highly productive year for Altus Group. I want to begin by expressing my gratitude for the unwavering dedication of our team members around the world. In the face of a dynamic CRE and macroeconomic backdrop, we remain focused on what is under our control, driving operational excellence, maximizing operating leverage, and strategically positioning ourselves to serve the industry with advanced analytics. The strength of our model was validated by our continued growth during one of the most challenging CRE cycles in decades. Several initiatives, such as the implementation of our new ERP system, The expansion of our new global service center in India, enhancements to our tech stack through the office performance platform and the addition of ForBerry have been transformational to our business model. You'll hear more about our analytics capabilities and innovation roadmap from David later in the call. Our full year results, as presented on slide five, speak to the team's disciplines and committed execution of our strategy. In 2023, we grew recurring revenue double digits in a challenging market, we expanded analytics margins by 360 bps, and we effectively managed through the property tax annuity reset in the UK. For context on that, we absorbed the bulk of the $33 million annuity revenue stream loss to finish the year down just $5.5 million. Our 2023 net cash provided by operating activities came in at $71.4 million, below our 2022 results, partially due to higher interest expense. However, free cash flow finished at $58.9 million, a 12% increase versus 2022. With much of the heavy lift of the ERP upgrade initiatives now behind us, our CapEx came down to $12.5 million versus $24.5 million in the prior year. The net result is an increase in our adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion rate to 44% compared to 39% in 2022. As our cash from operating activities accelerates, we will continue to prioritize organic growth investments, opportunistically pay down debt, and maintain financial flexibility for acquisitions and stock repurchases. Hubbin will now expand on the financial performance.