Transcontinental Inc.

Mesdames et messieurs, merci d'avoir patienté et bienvenue à la conférence téléphonique concernant les résultats du quatrième trimestre de l'exercice 2024 de TC Transcontinental. Pendant la conférence, tous les participants seront en mode d'écoute seulement. Une période de questions suivra la présentation et les directives vous seront données à ce moment. Nous désirons vous rappeler que cette conférence est enregistrée aujourd'hui, le 12 décembre 2024. Welcome to the TC Transcontinental fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 results conference call. During the presentation, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct the question and answer session and instructions will be provided at that time. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, December 12, 2024. And I would like to turn the conference over to Yanda Point, Director, Investor Relations and Treasury. I would now like to give the floor to Mr. Ian Lapointe, Director, Relations with Investors and Treasury. Mr. Lapointe, please go ahead.

Thank you, Sylvie, and good morning everyone on the call. Welcome to Transcontinental's fourth quarter and fiscal 2024 earnings call. Before we begin, please note that our quarterly reports, including financial statements and related notes, as well as the slides supporting management's remarks, are available on our website at www.tc.cc under the Investor Relations section. A replay of this conference call will also be available on our website shortly after the call. Please note that this conference call is intended for the financial community. Media are in listen-only mode and should contact Nathalie Saint-Jean, Senior Advisor, Corporate Communications, for more information. We have with us today our President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Moret, and our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Donald LeCavalier. As referenced on slide two, some of the financial measures discussed over the course of this conference call are non-IFRS. You can refer to the MD&A for a complete definition and reconciliation of these measures to IFRS. In addition, this conference call might also contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the current expectations of management and information available as of today, and they involve numerous risks and uncertainties, known and unknown. The risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could influence actual results are described in the fiscal 2024 annual NBNA released yesterday and in the annual information form. With that, I would like to turn the call over to our President and CEO, Thomas Morin.

Thank you, Yann, and good morning to you all. We posted solid results in Q4, and I thank our teams for their disciplined work in reducing costs and improving profitability. We are pleased to end the fiscal year on a strong note. In our packaging sector, despite continued weakness in our medical market, we improved profits again, mainly as a result of cost reductions. For the 24 financial year, our adjusted EBITDA was up 14.2%, over the previous year. At $262 million, this is a record for our packaging sector. In our retail services and printing sector, we recorded an increase in profit for the second consecutive quarter. This is the result of our actions to improve our cost structure as well as our growth in our in-store marketing activities. For fiscal 24, our adjusted EBITDA was up 2.1% over the previous year, another welcome achievement. In terms of sustainability, the Science-Based Target Initiative Organization, or SBTI, approved our near-term emission targets in October. From now on, these targets will serve as our primary measurement for sustainability objectives. These include energy efficiency, clean energy procurement, and the commercialization of sustainable packaging solutions. As an update on recyclable packaging and our new BOP line in Spartanburg, South Carolina, The startup has gone very well, and we're very pleased with where we stand as we speak. 24 was also a year of progress and safety. By reducing the number of accidents by 9% compared with the previous year, we've reached a new milestone. We improved our frequency rate to a symbolic 1.0. This is an industry measure based on one accident per 200,000 worked hours. The efforts of our teams are paying off, and we will continue along this path to get closer to our zero-injury vision. To sum up, we delivered a solid financial performance in 2024. This was made possible by our discipline in implementing our priorities, as well as our three-year program to improve our profitability and financial position. By the end of this 2024 fiscal year, we generated over $30 million of our two-year target of $40 million in recurring savings. This was achieved through the reduction of cost of goods sold, fixed cost reductions, and the turnaround of underperforming plants. Just after the end of Q4, on October 28th, we've announced an important transaction for our packaging sector, the sale of our industrial packaging operations for $95 million U.S., subject to working capital adjustment. Industrial packaging was a good business for us. However, it offered few synergies with the rest of our portfolio and was not core to our growth. Let me now address the strike at Canada Post. First, I'm extremely proud of how we have responded to this situation. Our teams have come together to meet the challenge with truly amazing work. We were ready for a disruption and have enlisted logistic partners to quickly deploy a distribution network for radar in Quebec and British Columbia. We're currently distributing over 1.1 million copies of radar, 100,000 doors in Quebec, and 320,000 doors in British Columbia. Individual flyer distribution also continues in Ontario and other provinces through existing channels. All in all, approximately 70% of Canadian doors that were receiving radar or solo flyers before the strike are still receiving them. While the consultation of digital flyers is up, many retailers are seeing a decrease in store traffic in those areas where printed flyers are not available. Again, this points at the value of printed flyers in combination with digital. Our customers have expressed appreciation for the way we are supporting them, praising our agility. So kudos to the team. While we cannot predict how long the strike will last, we're doing everything we can to mitigate the impact of the situation. Looking forward to fiscal 25, we will continue to implement year two of our profit improvement program with the same spirit of leaving no stones unturned, with the same determination. Additionally, with our improved financial position, We're looking again at acquisition markets in all three sectors to complement our foreign, our footprint, and our capacity. Now over to you, Donald.