Richelieu Hardware Ltd.

Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Richelieu's conference call for the fourth quarter, and the year ended November 30th, 2024. With me is Antoine Auclair, CFO and COO as of now. As usual, note that some of today's issues include forward-looking information, which is provided with the usual disclaimer, as reported in our financial findings. The year 2024 ended well for Richelieu, with good results in the fourth quarter, improving sales up 5%, driven almost equally from internal growth and acquisition. For the year, our total sales were $1.8 billion, which we are pleased with, given the renovation slowdown and the price deflation on some commodity products. Our team brought its expertise and drive to meet the challenge with continuous product innovation, second-to-none service and customer support. The diversification of our market segments and the expansion of our operations in Canada and in the U.S. with a strategically well-established network gives us the strength to face the market and economic conditions. We pursued our acquisition strategy in the fourth quarter, closing our fourth acquisition since the beginning of the year. of November 13. We are looking forward to integrate this new Quebec-based business located in Boucherville, which specializes in surfaces and decorative panels, adding new products for our Eastern Canadian market. In addition, we signed three argument in principle in the fourth quarter, which were successfully concluded in December and early January 2025. we acquired three new fully compatible businesses. Mill Supply, on December 1st, located in Dartmoor and Charlottetown. Barium Distributing in Denver, Colorado, adding a location in this long-time targeted strategic market where we did not have a physical presence. And Midwest Specialty Products in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a result of this acquisition, we now operate two distribution centers in Minneapolis, while adding product lines related to the countertop manufacturing market. Together, the seven acquisitions closed in 2024 and early 2025 will bring an additional $100 million in annual sales, boost our market presence, and diversify and expand our product lines. Antoine will now go over the financial highlights for the quarter and the year. Then I will conclude and we will take our questions. Antoine.

Thanks, Richard. Our fourth quarter sales reached 476 million, up 5%. Sales to manufacturers stood at 421.6 million, up 7.2%, with 4.1% from internal growth and 3.1% from acquisitions. In the hardware retailers and renovation superstores market, sales were down 9.7%. In Canada, sales amounted to 275 million, an increase of 7.8 million or 2.9%. Our sales to manufacturers reached 230 million, up 4.4%. As for the retailer's market, sales stood at 45 million, down 4% with last year. In the U.S., sales totaled 146 million in U.S. dollar, up 7.1%. Sales to manufacturers reached 139 million in U.S. dollar, up 10%, evenly split between internal growth and acquisitions. In the retailer's market, sales were down 29.6%. Total sales in the US reached 201 million in Canadian dollar, an increase of 7.9%, representing 42% of total sales. Total sales for 2024 reached 1.8 billion, an increase of 2.5%, of which 2.2% from acquisition, and 0.3% from internal growth. Sales to manufacturers reached 1.6 billion, up 4.6%, of which 2% from internal growth and 2.6% from acquisitions. Sales to hardware retailers were down by 10.9%. In Canada, sales totaled 1 billion, comparable to last year. Our sales to manufacturers amounted to 873 million, up by 1.8%, mostly from acquisitions. Sales to hardware retailers and renovation super stores were $191 million, down 7.9%. In the U.S., sales amounted to $575 million in U.S. dollar, up 5%, of which 2.1% from internal growth and 2.9% from acquisitions. They reached $784 million in Canadian dollar, up 6%, accounting for 43% of total sales. Sales to manufacturers reached $544 million in U.S. dollar, an increase of 7.1%, and sales to hardware retailers were down by 22.1%. Fourth quarter EBITDA amounted to $54.3 million, compared to $58.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, down 7.7%. Our gross margin was slightly lower than last year, and the EBITDA margin stood at 11.4%, compared to 13% in the same period last year. This decline was primarily driven by a lower sales price on certain products, higher cost of goods sold in specific categories, as well as the impact of our expansion projects that are still in ramp-up mode. Fourth quarter net earnings attributable to shareholders totaled 24.4 million compared with 28.5 million last year. Diluted net earnings per share reached 44 cents compared with 51 cents in 2023. For the year, net earnings reached $86 million, a decrease of 23.1%, and $1.53 per share compared to $1.98 per share last year. Fourth quarter cash flow from operating activities before net change and non-cash working capital balances were $43 million, or $0.77 per share. Net change and non-cash working capital balance used cash flow of $15.8 million. Consequently... We generated $27.2 million in cash flow from operating activities compared with $72.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. For the year, we generated $165.7 million in adjusted cash flow from operating activities. Throughout the year, we paid dividends of $33.5 million with $8.3 million paid in the fourth quarter. We also repurchased common share for 38.7 million, including 20 million in the fourth quarter. In total, we distributed a total of 72.2 million to our shareholders this year. Investing activities used cash flow of 51 million, which included 20 million primarily for our four business acquisition completed in fiscal 2024. Additionally, 30 million was spent on operational equipment to maintain and improve efficiency as well as on distribution center expansion projects, including major investment in our new 250,000 square foot building in Calgary. And now I'll turn it over to Richard.

Thank you, Antoine. Our results affect the efficiency of our business model, which we want always to be well adapted to our customer needs. Our value-added distinctive service, the strength of our network, the performance of our website, richelieu.com, and our capacity for ongoing innovation. We have a unique product offering, featuring diversity, quality, and depth in our product lines. The depth of our product lines is very variable, and it enables us to respond to the increasing specialized needs of our customers in order to increase sales and to distinguish ourselves in the market. Over the coming period, we will continue to build on our lead Developing synergies with our recent acquisition, our strength must benefit each acquirer business and vice versa. We will do our utmost to preserve and improve our margins and continue to invest in innovations and value-creating acquisition to prepare the future. Our strengths are multiple and we continue to optimize them. In conclusion, I'm pleased to announce to you that following the Board of Directors approval, Antoine Auclair, Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation since 2011, will now also assume the function of Chief Operating Officer in addition to his current responsibility. With this new role, Antoine will allow me to dedicate more of my time to strategy and business development while continuing to leverage his leadership and expertise to ensure that the company continues to achieve solid results. Antoine, would you like to add something to that?