AirBoss of America Corp.

Thank you for standing by. This is a conference operator. Welcome to the Airbus of America fourth quarter conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in 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, you may press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star, then 0. I would now like to turn the conference over to Gren Schock, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us for the Airbus Fourth Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. My name is Gren Schock. I'm the Chairman and Co-CEO of Airbus. With me today are Chris Mitsoukakis, our President and Co-CEO, Frankie Antilli, our CFO, and Chris Fegel, our EVP and General Counsel. Our agenda today will start with a review of the operational highlights for the quarter and year, followed by a discussion of our financial results before we open the conference line to questions. Before we begin, I will remind listeners that our remarks today contain forward-looking statements, including our estimates of future developments. We invite listeners to review risk factors related to our business in our annual information forum, and our MD&A, both of which are available on CDAR and on our corporate website. Also, we will discuss certain non-GAAP measures, including EBITDA. Reconciliations of these measures are available in our MD&A. Finally, please note that our reporting currency is in U.S. dollars. References today will be in U.S. dollars unless we indicate otherwise. With that, I'll now turn it over to Chris Bitsakakis for our operational review.

Thank you, Gren, and good morning, everyone. As we look at our Q4 and year-ended December 2023 results, we are pleased with the significant positive swing in our cash generation from a consumption of $30 million in 2022 to cash generation of $40 million in 2023. Despite the improvement in cash generation, 2023 was a challenging year for Airbus as economic headwinds impacted each segment to varying degrees. Between the UAW strike, the insourcing of tolling business, customers reducing inventory at the end of the year, and the general higher interest rate climate affecting demand, there was no shortage of tactical challenges. In light of those challenges, the company focused on managing costs and developing multi-layer risk mitigation plans while undertaking an extensive, in-depth strategic review of each of our business units. This detailed review has resulted in a new strategic transition for the corporation, which includes a shift in reportable segments commencing with our results for the fourth quarter and year-ended December 31, 2023. Airbus will now report results under two segments, Airbus Rubber Solutions and Airbus Manufactured Products. All rubber compounding operations are now consolidated in the new ARS segment, including the rubber compounding operations in Actonville, Quebec. which emphasizes this segment's ability to act as the core driver for sustainable and predictable growth and productivity for the corporation. The new manufactured product segment consists of all operations which manufacture or distribute finished products to a variety of target markets, including automotive, non-automotive, and defense. As AMP will now encompass all manufactured and distributed finished goods, we will be undertaking an additional product line by product line strategic review in order to assess their overall alignment with the strategic direction of the corporation. Through this transition, we will be making a concerted effort to refocus the company's resources on the core business of AirFox. By narrowing our focus, we expect to be able to deliver a more consistent and predictable revenue stream going forward, In terms of last year, both ARS and AMP experienced residual softness in Q4 2023, while the eventual recovery in volumes in 2024 for each segment will remain subject to the ongoing challenges related to continued inflation pressures and the ongoing global geopolitical challenges and successful conversion of key opportunities. For ARS, the segment experienced some retraction in most business lines compared to 2022, which was a record year from both a sales and EBITDA perspective. However, 2023 was still a solid year from a sales and EBITDA perspective. Despite robust performance earlier in the year, there was a pronounced softness experienced at the end of Q4 2023 as sales were impacted by customers focused on reducing inventory levels going into their year-ends. Despite these headwinds, the segment remains focused on executing on its strategy to deliver strong results with specialized products, expanded production of a broader array of compounds, and enhanced flexibility in attracting and fulfilling new business through identified synergies and margin expansion. A&P experienced strong traction in its rubber-molded product lines despite challenges towards the latter part of the year due to labor disruptions related to the UAW strikes. The defense business experienced softness across the product portfolio throughout the entire year due to ongoing delays in the sourcing of major program awards. Throughout the year, management continued its focus on operational improvements, including managing costs and a commitment to drive efficiencies and best-in-class automation. We expect the resegmentation to offer additional opportunities for cost and efficiency improvements. Based on our new strategic direction, the company's long-term priorities consist of the following. Firstly, to grow the core rubber solution segment by emphasizing rubber compounding as the core driver for sustainable growth and productivity, focusing on innovation and custom rubber compounding while aiming to expand market share through organic and inorganic means. while striving to achieve enhanced diversification by a broadening of the product breadth through technological advancements and investments in specialty compound niches. Secondly, focusing manufactured products growth strategy on diversifying and expanding its range of non-automotive rubber molded products, while simultaneously narrowing the overall product line range through a renewed focus on core competencies, and thirdly, While undertaking a strategic review of all product lines currently manufactured and sold by the company in its manufactured product segment, we plan to target inorganic growth opportunities with a focus on adding new compounds and products, technical capabilities, and geographic region to selected North American and international markets. In summary, Airbus will continue to focus on these long-term priorities while investing in core areas of the business to establish a solid foundation that will support long-term predictable and sustainable growth. With that, I will now pass the call over to Frank for the financial review.