NFI Group Inc.

Welcome to the NFI 2022 Financial Results Conference Call. My name is Adrienne, and I'll be your operator for today's call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we'll conduct a question-and-answer session. During the question-and-answer session, if you have a question, please press 01 on your touch-tone phone. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I'll now turn the call over to Stephen King, Vice President, Strategy and Investor Relations. Mr. King, you may begin.

Thank you, Adrian. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2022 results conference call. This is Stephen Kingsby. Joining me today are Paul Subri, President and Chief Executive Officer, Papasu Soni, Chief Financial Officer, Brian Dusnip, President, NFI Parts, and the Honorable Brian Tobin, Chair of NFI's Board of Directors. Today we will walk through an update on the temporary leadership plan we announced earlier this morning, our quarterly results, and provide our outlook for 2022 and beyond. This call is being recorded and a replay will be made available shortly. We will be using a presentation that can be found in the investor section of our website. While we will be moving the slides via the webcast link, we will also call out the slide number as we go through the deck for participants on the phone. Starting with slide two, I would like to remind all participants and others that certain information provided on today's call may be forward-looking and based on assumptions and anticipated results that are subject to uncertainty. Should any one or more of these uncertainties materialize, or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from those expected. Please also note that certain financial measures used on today's call do not have standardized measures prescribed by international financial reporting standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. You are advised to review the risk factors found in NFI's press releases and other public filings on CDAR in more detail. We also want to remind listeners that NFI's financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, the company's functional currency. All amounts referred to are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. On slide three, we've included some key terms and definitions referred to in this presentation. Of note, zero-emission buses, or ZEBs, consist of battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell electric, and trolley electric buses. Equivalent units, or EUs, is a term that we use for both production slots and delivery statistics. The majority of our vehicles represent one equivalent unit, while an articulated 60-foot transit bus takes two production slots and is therefore equal to two equivalent units. On slide four, for those of you new to the NFI story, we are a leading independent global provider of sustainable bus and coach solutions. We are leaders in our core markets, which includes heavy-duty transit, coach, and aftermarket parts in North America, heavy-duty transit and aftermarket parts in the United Kingdom, and the world leader in double-deck transit buses. Turning to slide five, our purpose and mission is simple. We exist to move people. Very simply, our products transport precious cargo. We are focused on designing, building, and delivering exceptional, safe, and turnkey mobility solutions. We've made our sustainability pledge in 2006, and it still holds true today. A better product, a better workplace, and a better world. We have implemented numerous advancements on the ESG front, or environmental social governance, in 2021 and to start 2022. Full details of all our various ESG initiatives, including our diversity, equity, and inclusion survey and our materiality mapping exercise, will be outlined in our fourth annual ESG report, which will be released in a few weeks. Slide six is critically important as it shows the breadth of our full offering. NFI solutions include vehicles, charging infrastructure, connected buses and coaches, telematics, aftermarket parts and service, and financing solutions. We are truly a partner of choice for bus and coach customers, offering comprehensive and customizable solutions. I'll now pass the call over to Paul.

Thank you, Stephen. And for those of you that caught Stephen's title at the start, pleased to announce that Stephen's been promoted to a Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations, a very well-deserved promotion and a really, really strong part of our team. Good morning, everyone. Earlier today, we announced that I will be taking a temporary medical leave of absence having recently been diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm. As I undergo further testing to determine the most appropriate treatment, I will be on leave for a few months. And in the interim, NFI's board has appointed Brian Duzna, currently president of NFI Parts, the role of acting CEO during my absence. I've worked closely with Brian for almost nine years now. And on slide seven, we provide details of his background and his leadership experience. Brian joined NFI in 2013 through our acquisition of North American Bus Industries, or NABI, And at the time of acquisition, Brian was Navi's CFO and then became president of Navi post-acquisition. Brian has been leading NFI parts since 2017, and under his leadership, that business has seen strong growth in both revenue and profitability from product diversification, market expansion, and cost optimization efforts. In addition to his extensive financial and operational experience, Brian holds an MBA in finance and both master's and bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Well, it pains me to take leave as NFI navigates through this serious global supply chain and logistics challenges. I know that it is in my best interest and the company's best interest that I take time to focus on my health. With the board's unequivocal support, Brian and the rest of our executive team will continue to execute on our strategy and navigate through the latest supply chain hurdles and disruptions. I know that the business is being left in great hands, and I'm committed to actively returning as soon as my health permits. So before I dive deep into our first quarter results, I wanted to give Brian an opportunity to introduce himself to our investor and stakeholder community. Go ahead, Brian. Thanks, Paul.