5N Plus Inc.

Hello ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience and welcome to the telephone conference result of the third quarter of 2024 of 5N+. Currently, the lines of participants are in listening mode only. After the presentation, there is a period of questions and answers. To ask your questions, press star and the 1 of your telephone keyboard. If you need assistance during the call, please press star 0. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Fire and Dust, Inc. Third Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. At this time, note that all participants are in a 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 now 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 Q3 2024 results conference call and webcast. We'll 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 discussion analysis of 2023, dated February 27, 2024, available on our website and in our public filings. In the analysis of our quarterly results, you will note that we use and discuss certain non-IFRS measures, which definitions may differ from those used by other companies. For further information, please refer to our management discussion and analysis. I would now turn the conference over to Gervais.

Thank you, Richard, and warm welcome, everyone. Yesterday, we announced our results for the third quarter of 2024. Since the beginning of the year, 5N Plus has delivered a strong performance across its key financial indicators. Our Q3 results reflect sustained growth momentum in our specialty semiconductors business. as well as a stellar performance by our performance materials segment. Our financial results, year to date, position us well to not only meet but slightly exceed our adjusted EBITDA objective for the full fiscal year. Looking at specialty semiconductors, this was another strong quarter despite usual Q3 seasonality. with excellent year-over-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth and solid margin expansion. On the operational front, in Montreal, new semiconductor compound capacity was commissioned in the quarter as planned. Upon full ramp-up, this represents a 100% capacity increase over 2022. This newly installed capacity will enable us to meet near-term contracted demand for our renewable semiconductor compound. In addition, Montreal is now well positioned from a process and infrastructure perspective to efficiently expand capacity further in future. In Heilbronn, at Azure, we completed our previously announced capacity increase program ahead of schedule. We also surpassed our initial 30% increased target by 5%, therefore increasing Azure's space solar cell capacity by a total of 35% over 2022 levels. Subsequent to quarter end, we announced plans to increase Azure's solar cell production capacity by a further 30% in early 2025. This will require minimal additional investments as most of the equipment has been purchased and delivered. As a result, 5N Plus is in good position to capture organic growth in terrestrial renewable energy and space solar power in the near to medium term. On the customer front, Azure has also had much to celebrate in the last few months. NASA's Europa Clipper was successfully launched mid-October, enabled by Azure's solar cells. Its supersized, solar-cell-covered wings are critical for utilizing the maximum amount of sunlight possible to generate power, as the spacecraft will be traveling through some of the most extreme environments in our solar system. We are proud to have our technology once again powering a critical space mission, demonstrating Azure's strong expertise and ability to push the boundaries of deep space exploration. Azure was also recognized by a long-standing client, Maxar Space Systems, for the second year in a row with a Supplier Excellence Award. This year, it was in recognition of on-time delivery and excellent quality performance of the Sirius XM11, Sirius XM12, and EcoStar 25 programs. Congratulations to the team on this well-deserved recognition. Turning now to performance materials. This segment had a very strong Q3 2024, generating solid revenue growth, record quarterly adjusted EBITDA, and impressive margin expansion, and this is despite lower volumes. Unlike previous quarters, this year, Q3 results benefited from a favorable product mix year over year from the company's basement-based products. The team also delivered notable operational results, both from a productivity and operating costs perspective. Turning to our outlook for the rest of the year, we now expect to surpass our adjusted EBITDA guidance range and slightly exceed the 50 million mark. This is on the strength of the strategic sectors we serve in specialty semiconductors, as well as health and pharma on the performance materials side. Looking ahead, our collective work and strong execution of our strategy over the last few years position us well for the next chapter of our growth as a valued and trusted global actor in advanced materials technology. We are now in a strong position to efficiently capture additional organic growth opportunities in the near term thanks to our increased capacity and enhanced operational flexibility. We are also now actively on the lookout for incremental external growth opportunities. We will remain focused on opportunities that extend or leverage our competitive advantages, capabilities and value chain. We will also ensure that our advanced materials remain a critical enabler of our customers' products without being a critical cost component, in line with our current and proven approach. Richard, over to you for a review of our financial results in more detail.