Supremex Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the SUPREMEX fourth quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during the call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, February 24, 2022. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jennifer McCaughey. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us for Supremex's fourth quarter and year-end conference call. My name is Jennifer McCaughey from Maison Brisson Communications, an investor relations consulting firm supporting Supremex with IR activities. With me today is Stuart Emerson, President and CEO, and Mary Kronopoulos, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. Following their comments, we will open the call for questions. For a more detailed analysis of our results, please see our financial statements, MD&A, and press release published earlier this morning and available on the company's website and on CDAR. In addition, we posted a presentation supporting this conference call, which is available through the webcast and on our website. I would like to remind listeners that this conference call contains forward-looking information within the meeting of applicable Canadian securities laws. please refer to the forward-looking statement as detailed in the presentation supporting this conference call. Furthermore, risks and uncertainties are discussed in the annual information form dated March 31st, 2021 under the heading Risk Factors and updated in our latest MD&A. During this call and in the presentation, we use various non-IFRS measures including, but not limited to, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net earnings, adjusted earnings per share, and free cash flow. These terms are defined in our MD&A. Unless stated otherwise, all figures are expressed in Canadian dollars. With that, let me turn the call over to Stuart.

Thank you, Jennifer, and welcome, everyone. I'm extremely pleased with our Q4 and full year 2021 results. We finished the year on a very strong note, with our top line reaching a record level of $226 million. 2021 revenue was up over 10%, and net earnings more than doubled to $15.7 million, or 58 cents per share. Moreover, Q4 was the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement in adjusted EBITDA. Impressively, all lines of business contributed to this improved performance. Packaging segment revenues increased in excess of 19% in 2021, and they now represent over 30% of total revenues. Strikingly, our envelope segment, which has long been a concern of the business and investors alike, increased 7% year over year, primarily on the backs of U.S. envelope growth and a supply chain that held up remarkably well and afforded us some customer penetration opportunities. Holistically, our strong supply chain and dedicated workforce were instrumental in the quarter, and the local management teams continue to do an exceptional job on both fronts. Our objective has been to build the business for the long term. The 2021 performance clearly demonstrates that we are reaping the benefits of the foundational work laid over the past few years, including the strategic plan and important capital projects. Let me provide a brief update on operations and current activities. First, the Vistagraphic communication integration. The new equipment is now fully operational and fully manned. This takes some pressure off our Canadian operations and provides needed capacity and capabilities for the e-commerce team in the U.S. market. Second, the team continues to work diligently on the planning of the move of the folding carton plant in the town of Mont-Royal to an alternative location in the greater Montreal region. We initially believed that we would be able to avoid this in 2022, but it is not to be. Move is expected to be completed at the end of Q2 or the beginning of Q3, which is traditionally the slower summer season. We anticipate that redundancy built into the system should keep disruptions to a minimum, but it is important that we get it right. Finally, a few weeks ago, we concluded the acquisition of the manufacturing assets and inventory of Niagara Envelope, a very, very small regional manufacturer based in Niagara Falls, New York. This tuck-in acquisition allows us to provide additional volume and support to a couple of large, long-term customers in the Western New York market. In summary, I'm super pleased with the quarter and how we ended the year. The future looks promising on many fronts. With that, I'd like to now turn the call over to Mary for review of the Q4 financial results. Mary?