5N Plus Inc.

Merci d'avoir patienté et bienvenue à la conférence téléphonique des résultats du quatrième trimestre 2023 de 5N+. Présentement, les lignes des participants sont en mode d'écoute seulement. Après la présentation, il y aura une période de questions-réponses. Pour poser une question, appuyez sur étoile et le 1 de votre clavier téléphonique. Si vous avez besoin d'assistance, veuillez appuyer sur étoile 0. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by and welcome to the 5N Plus Inc. 4th Quarter 2022 Results Conference Call. At this time, note that all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, please press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. And if you require immediate assistance for the operator, please press star 0. Je vais maintenant céder la parole à Richard Perron, chef de la direction financière. And I would like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Richard Perron, chief financial officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Bonjour à toutes et à tous. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Q4 and full year 2023 results conference call and webcast. We will begin with a short presentation, followed by a question period with financial analysts. Joining me this morning is Gervais Jacques, our President and CEO. We issued our financial results yesterday and posted a short presentation on the investor section of our website. I would like to draw your attention to slide two of this presentation. Information in this presentation and remarks made by the speakers today will contain statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and therefore subject to risk and uncertainties. A detailed description of the risk factors that may affect future results is contained in our management's discussion and analysis of 2023, dated February 27, 2024, available on our website and in our public finds. In the analysis of our quarterly results, you will note that we use and discuss the non-IFRS measures, which definitions may differ from those used by other companies. For further information, please refer to our management's discussion and analysis. I would like now to turn the conference over to Gervais.

Thank you, Richard, and welcome, everyone. Yesterday, we announced results for our four-quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. For full year 2023, we delivered record reported adjusted EBITDA and significant margin expansion while sustaining a strong backlog. Our performance across these key metrics is proof that our strategy focused on commercial excellence, value-added products, and long-term partnerships is delivering tangible results. It is also enabling us to provide the market with increased visibility on our growth path. I will begin by discussing our segmented performance. Specialty semiconductors continued to benefit from strong demand, especially in the high-growth terrestrial renewable energy and space solar power sectors. Both revenue and adjusted EBITDA were up in the quarter and the year compared to 2022. On terrestrial renewable energy, as previously communicated, Growth was more than 40% compared to 2022 levels. This follows the historic multi-year agreement we signed with long-time partner First Solar announced in late 2022. In terms of projects that highlight the role we play for our customers is the solar power plant recently inaugurated at Rio Tinto's Kennecott Copper operation in Utah, from which we secured a tellurium supply agreement. They inaugurated a 5 megawatt solar power plant with first solar panels made with the very tellurium we refined for first solar, really bringing things full circle. On the other side, high-profile projects that use our solar cell technology included the European Space Agency's mission to Jupiter and the Indian Space Research Organization's lunar exploration mission. In addition, RAGEN inaugurated the world's largest and highest efficiency next-generation long-duration solar energy storage project in Australia, which also uses Azure's solar cells. These projects are just a handful of examples demonstrating that our world-class expertise, favorable global footprint, and value-added product development continue to be valued by our key customers in critical sectors of the economy. In performance materials, we are still seeing a drag on revenue due to the strategic exit from our low-margin business in Belgium in the second half of 2022. However, adjusted EBITDA from this segment was higher in the fourth quarter and full year compared to 2022. Looking ahead, we expect most of the growth from this segment to come from the health and pharmaceutical sectors. We will also continue to explore product expansion opportunities and development initiatives both independently and through partnerships. Turning to operation, as you know, we have been investing in our production capacity to ensure that we could fully capitalize on the growing demand for our specialty semiconductor products. On terrestrial renewable energy, we successfully increased capacity by 40% at our Eisen-Uttenstadt facility. Now, we are executing the extension project in Saint-Laurent, Montreal, to increase capacity by 60%. The Montreal project is being led by the same project lead as in Germany. To meet strong demand for our Azure Space Solar technology, we are also investing to increase production capacity by 30%. Finally, As we secure additional complex feeds and secondary market streams for the recovery of critical minerals, we expect operations in recycling and refining in Montreal to be at capacity in 2024. Our success in 2023 is a direct result of our focus on commercial excellence. Our approach ensures we are an integral and valued part of our customers' solutions, focusing on the development of strategic long-standing relationships, working with customers to produce innovative products that meet their unique needs. With this approach, we also seek to accelerate our go-to-market timeline while optimizing capital deployment through co-investment initiatives. This entrenches us with key customers and solidifies our market leadership position, allowing us to grow revenues without compromising margins. With our strong backlog and growing demand in the critical end markets which we supply, we have confidence in our approach and our future. Records are made to be broken and it is our objective to do just that in the coming years. We are confident in our approach, And as reflected in our guidance for 2024 and 2025, we expect to be able to keep leveling up our performance year after year. For full year 2024, we are maintaining our previously disclosed adjusted EBITDA guidance range of between $45 and $50 million, which, if realized, would represent growth of 17 to 31% over 2023. 100% supported by organic growth initiatives. Additionally, we are pleased to introduce adjusted EBITDA guidance for full year 2025 of between 50 and 55 million dollars. Taking the midpoint of this range, This would represent an approximately 37% increase over 2023 or 11% increase over 2024. Also, 100% supported by organic growth initiatives. To achieve our goals, we will continue our disciplined execution on our growth strategy and commercial excellence. including prudent investment in our production capacity. By leveraging our strong customer relationships and deep industry expertise, we expect to continue on our growth trajectory while maintaining our unique position as a trusted developer and manufacturer of ultra-high-purity specialty semiconductors and performance materials. Of course, None of this would be possible without our amazing team on three continents. Our people have been instrumental in our success to date and will continue to play a key role in helping execute on our game plan and record-breaking ambitions. Richard, over to you for a review of our financial results in more detail.