CGI Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the CGI's fourth quarter fiscal 2024 conference call. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Kevin Linder, SVP of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. Linder.

Thank you, Joelle, and good morning. With me to discuss CGI's fourth quarter and fiscal 2024 results are Francois Boulanger, our president and CEO, and Steve Perron, executive vice president and CFO. This call is being broadcast on CGI.com and recorded live at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. Supplemental slides, as well as a press release we issued earlier this morning, are available for download along with our fiscal 2024 MD&A, audited financial statements, and accompanying notes, all of which have been filed with both Cedar Plus and EDGAR. Please note that some statements made on the call may be forward-looking, Actual events or results may differ materially from those expressed or implied, and CGI disclaims any intent or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. The complete Safe Harbour Statement is available in both our MD&A and press release, as well as on CGI.com. We recommend our investors read it in its entirety. We are reporting our financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS. As always, we will also discuss non-GAAP performance measures, which should be viewed as supplemental. The MD&A contains definitions of each one used in our reporting. All of the dollar figures expressed on this call are Canadian, unless otherwise noted. I'll now turn it over to Steve to review our Q4 financials, and then Francois will comment on our full-year performance and business and market outlook.

Steve. Thank you, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. CGI once again delivered strong results in our fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 in what continued to be a dynamic and challenging macro environment. In Q4, we delivered $3.7 billion of revenue, up 4.4% year over year, or up 2% when excluding the impact of foreign exchange. The strongest CGI segments were Northwest and Central East Europe at 7.5% constant currency growth, UK and Australia at 7.2%, Asia Pacific at 6.2%, and U.S. Federal at 5%. From an industry perspective, we continue to have the highest growth in government representing 4.7% constant currency growth this quarter. This was followed by manufacturing, retail and distribution at 3.3% driven from North America. Financial services in Europe and communications in North America remained challenged in line with the current market conditions. Our IP continued to grow at a faster pace with 3.7% constant currency growth in the quarter. As a percentage of total revenue, IP represented 22.9%, up 30 basis points year over year. In Q4, Bookings were $3.8 billion for a book-to-bill ratio of 104%. Book-to-bill ratios were 85% for business and strategic IT consulting and system integration, given the continued softness in discretionary spending, and 120% for managed services that will drive net new recurring revenue. On a trailing 12-month basis, our book-to-bill ratio was 109%. On the same basis, managed services had a book-to-bill ratio of 117% and SINC book-to-bill ratio was 100%. Our global backlog reached $28.7 billion or 1.9 times revenue, reflecting our overall business resilience. Turning to profitability, our performance this quarter once again demonstrated our operating discipline. Earnings before income taxes were $592 million for a margin of 16.2%, up 30 basis points year over year. Adjusted EBIT in the quarter was $600 million, representing a margin of 16.4%, up 10 basis points year over year. The increase is mainly due to one more available day to bill and savings generated from our cost optimization program. These were in part upset by prior year's adjustments for R&D tax credits in France and the impact of lower utilization within the financial services largely in Europe and communication and utilities in North America. Margin were strongest in the following segments. Asia Pacific at 28%, Canada at 22%, Finland, Poland, and Baltics at 19%, U.S. Federal at 18%, and U.S. Commercial and State Government at 16%. Our effective tax rate in the quarter was 26.4%, up from 25.7% last year, impacted by the tax credit adjustments and the increase in the UK statutory rate. We expect our tax rate for future quarters to be in the range of 25.5% to 26.5%. Net earnings were $436 million for a margin of 11.9% up 10 basis points year-over-year. Diluted EPS was $1.91, representing an increase of 8.5% year-over-year. When excluding specific items, net earnings were $439 million. This represents a margin of 12% stable year-over-year. On the same basis, Diluted EPS was $1.92, an accretion of 7.3% when compared to Q4 last year. In the quarter, cash provided by operating activities was $629 million, representing a strong 17.2% of total revenue. DSO was 41 days in the quarter, three days better than last year. In Q4, we used our cash to invest $82 million into our business, invest $492 million for business acquisition upon completion of the acquisition of Aon and repayment of his debt, and invest $49 million to buy back our stock. Before the end of the quarter, we issued $750 million of public Canadian senior notes. The proceeds were used to repay existing debt as planned and for general corporate purposes. We continue to deliver a strong return on invested capital at 16%, consistent with the prior year, demonstrating our proficiency and discipline on deployment of capital. At the end of the quarter, CGI had $3 billion of cash readily available and access to more if needed. As part of our profitable growth strategy, CGI capital allocation priorities remain focused on investing back in the business and pursuing accretive acquisitions. The company also has the flexibility to use a portion of its free cash flow for the repurchase of its stock and for the distribution of dividends to further enhance value for shareholders. Yesterday, CGI's Board of Directors approved a cash dividend of 15 cents per share. This dividend is payable on December 20, 2024 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 20, 2024. Before turning the call over to François, I would like to highlight a few adjustments that were made effective October 1st. Germany is now its own segment and our operations in Scandinavia are now combined with our Northwest and Central East Europe segment. Starting next quarter, we will begin reporting on this new structure and we will provide restated historical data at that time. Now, I will turn the call over to François to discuss the insight on the quarter and the year, as well as the outlook for our business and markets. François?