Brookfield Business Corporation

Hello, and welcome to the Brookfield Business Partners first quarter 2025 results conference call and webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, simply press star 11 on your touchtone phone. Now, I would like to turn the conference over to Alan Fleming, head of investor relations. Please go ahead, Mr. Fleming.

Thank you, operator, and good morning. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that in responding to questions and talking about our growth initiatives and our financial and operating performance, we may make forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, and future results may differ materially. For further information on known risk factors, I encourage you to review our filings with the securities regulators in Canada and the U.S., which are available on our website. We'll begin the call today with an update on business performance and our strategic initiatives from Anuj Ranjan, our chief executive officer. Adrian Letts, head of our business operations team, will then be on to share some perspective on the current operating environment. We'll end the call with Jaspreet Del, our chief financial officer, providing a review of our financial results. After we finish our prepared remarks, the team will be available to take your questions. And with that, I'd like to now pass the call over to Anuj.

Thanks, Alan, and good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us on the call today. We've had a good start to the year, generating over $1.5 billion from our capital recycling initiatives and committing $370 million to acquire two market-leading industrial businesses. We've significantly reduced our corporate borrowings and also bought back nearly 6 million of our units and shares. As you may recall, we announced a $250 million repurchase program earlier this year, and we have already returned $140 million to shareholders as part of that. While the market fluctuations we've seen play out over the past month can be unsettling, our strategy is exactly the same, to own great businesses with market-leading positions and execute on our plans to enhance their underlying performance and cash flows. This has allowed us to compound value through periods of uncertainty in the past and gives us confidence as we manage through the current evolving environment. The reality is that most businesses, including ours, won't be entirely insulated from the impacts of tariffs or a potential downturn in global growth. However, having experience in navigating economic cycles and the operational capabilities to adapt will allow us to position our business for continued value creation. Regardless of where policy changes shake out, it does feel like the broader themes of relocalization and digitalization are here to stay. Capital will flow to these areas as companies look to reduce dependency on cross-border trade, strengthen supply chains, and invest in domestic capabilities. The United States remains an extremely attractive destination for capital. We've been investing in the backbone of the US economy for years, building a track record as an owner and operator of great businesses. Today, the growth of many of these businesses is accelerating as technology, relocalization, and policy changes converge. Advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics are ushering in a new era and will create immense opportunities to buy and completely transform many of these industrial companies at a much more rapid pace. Growth in Europe has lagged behind the US for years, but the region is uniting around a pro-growth agenda with governments signaling that they are willing to play a part in easing regulation, promoting productivity, and supporting spending. Meanwhile, India remains a bright spot in the global economy, and the Middle East, specifically the Gulf countries, continue to thrive, largely insulated from current geopolitical dynamics, which is supporting a highly conducive deal-making environment and opportunities for us to strategically grow our presence or monetize businesses there over time. Over the years, we've made some of our best investments during periods of significant dislocation. Being global with a local presence and having strong access to capital puts us in a great spot to both accelerate buybacks and take advantage of growth opportunities. Just recently, we reached an agreement to acquire Antilia Scientific, a leading manufacturer and distributor of critical consumables and testing equipment serving life sciences and environmental labs. Antilia has a sticky customer base, providing essential products which support the accuracy and repeatability of processes and labs. The business has historically grown through a series of acquisitions and we see a lot of opportunities to improve its manufacturing, commercial strategy, and supply chain to capitalize on key growth opportunities. A lot has changed since the start of the year, but our commitment to compounding long-term growth for our investors remains the same. We're prepared for some uncertain days ahead, but are equally optimistic and confident in the quality of the businesses we own, the strength of our operational capabilities, and the increased flexibility of our balance sheet to support our growth. With that, I'll pass the call over to Adrian Letts, who oversees our global business operations team and is going to spend some time talking about how we're positioning our business in the current operating environment.