WSP Global Inc.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to WSP's second quarter 2024 results conference call. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Quentin Weber, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. Weber.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. We will discuss our Q2 2024 performance, followed by a Q&A session. Alexandre, our President and CEO, and Alain Michaud, our CFO, are joining us this morning. Please note that this call is also accessible via webcast on our website. During the call, we will make forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ from those expressed or implied. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements. Relevant factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements are listed in our MD&A for the quarter that ended June 29, 2024, which can be found on CDAR and on our website. In addition, during the call, we may refer to specific non-IFRS measures. These measures are also defined in our MD&A for the June 29, 2024 quarter. Our MD&A includes reconciliations of non-IFRS measures to the most directly comparable IFRS measures. Management believes that these non-IFRS measures provide useful information to investors regarding the corporation's financial condition and results of operations as they provide additional critical metrics of its performance. These non-IFRS measures are not recognized under IFRS, do not have any standardized meaning, prescribed under IFRS and may differ from similarly named measures reported by other issuers and accordingly may not be comparable. These measures should not be considered as a substitute for the related financial information prepared by IFRS. With that, I will now turn the call over to Alexandre.

Thank you Quentin and good day everyone. I'm pleased to share some exciting updates about our performance and the great momentum we are generating to keep pushing WSP forward. We delivered a strong second quarter with sustained organic growth and a significant increase in profitability, which has led us to raise our 2024 financial outlook. We continue to build on our proven track record of successful results, once again showing our ability to generate sustainable financial performance. This quarter was marked by several achievements with the following three core drivers fueling our robust results. First, we delivered quality organic growth supported by healthy market conditions in our key regions. This quarter, we achieved notable double-digit organic growth in the Americas with our core and market sectors continuing to bolster our North American business. Our backlog is healthy and overall demand for our services remains solid. We are playing an active role in developing infrastructure megaprojects We are still capitalizing on hypergrowth and data center and healthcare, and our multidisciplinary team of environmental experts is supporting our clients' growing needs related to the green transition, biodiversity, and sustainable solution. Second, we sustain our ability to produce industry-leading profitability. The implementation of various global initiatives, such as our simplification program, rigorous project selection process, and improved productivity measures continue to bear fruit. In the last quarter, we reported a 50 basis point margin expansion, and we continue to perform at the top quartile of our stated ambition, which targets a 30 to 50 basis point increase in adjusted EBITDA margin annually. Third, our sustained progress and focus on transforming our business and our capacity to deliver a strong cash profile are tracking positively. As of Q2 2024, our workforce is leveraging our new ERP, which has now been deployed in key regions that account for approximately 75% of our EBITDA. Of importance, we remain on plan and budget. As we continue our journey of transformation, we reinforce our financial position heading into the second half, ending the quarter with a superior level of free cash flow compared to the previous year. Acquisitions remain a critical part of our journey in accelerating our growth and allowing us to expand our capabilities. Since the start of this year, we have been active, yet disciplined in executing this pillar of our strategy. Following the acquisition of Comunica and Proxen in the first quarter of the year, we completed the acquisition of 1A Engineeros in May, a 250-employee Spanish consulting firm mainly active in the power and energy sector and in the integration is progressing as planned. We also welcome 365 professionals through AKF Group, a specialized mechanical, electrical, and plumbing firm operating throughout the eastern United States with an additional complementary presence in Mexico. In the first half of the year, we announced four acquisitions, adding critical expertise to our portfolio, and the pipeline of opportunities remains strong. Let me now give you a few examples of our most recent project wins. In Canada, WSP provides engineering services for the new state-of-the-art Advanced Medical Research Centre at the University of Ottawa. The seven-storey building targets LEED's goal certification and will house the Ottawa Health Innovation Hub, a new strategic initiative created by the region's health research community to connect academia, industry, regulators, the region's hospital and affiliated research institutes. Our team will contribute to mechanical and electrical engineering, energy modeling, sustainability and LEED services, building science services, landscape architecture, acoustic and municipal planning. In the U.S., WSP will lead the design of the Seattle Tacoma International Airport Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant. This project will upgrade the treatment of airfield stormwater associated with aircraft fueling and maintenance operation, such as de-icing. It includes a new control building, the expansion and portioning Partitioning, I'm so sorry, of a large storage lagoon, pump stations, improved operation controls and electrical infrastructure. We will help the project meet its sustainability goals, increase capacity and operational flexibility and achieve permit compliance. In Europe, we are proud to be part of the Grand Paris Express project in France, where 200 kilometers of new subway lines are being built. WSP will design the tunnels, branches, and ancillary structures on line 15 of this project and work with two key partners. This contract demonstrates our increased presence and potential in Central Europe, as well as how quickly our acquisition becomes synergistic since this contract originated from BG acquisition closed in 2023. While the range of projects our WSP experts consult on and deliver vary widely, they all embody our shared purpose of building a more sustainable world. We lead by example to gain our clients' trust and strive to uphold the highest ESG standard in all of our operations. We recently reported on our progress to our 2023 Global ESG Report, published in May. It provides resounding examples of the extent of our efforts on that front. We proudly reported an increase in NSDG linked revenue to 63.4% of total annualized gross revenue in 2023, a great indication of our impactful contribution to advancing sustainability through our services with the latest industry best practices and global standards by conducting a double materiality assessment. We now evaluate financial and impact materiality and are working to embed it further in our business strategy. We also increased our global average employee retention rate by over 1% year-over-year and filled over three-quarters of our global leadership roles with internal candidates, meeting our targets for both objectives. I invite you to read more on WSP and PAC worldwide by downloading our report. On ESG progress and deep expertise, Gartner and industry distinctions this quarter. For a fourth year, WSP was recognized as one of Canada's best 50 corporate citizens by corporate nights. This marked our fourth straight year on the list and our best ranking yet at number five. This accolade followed our earlier appearance on corporate night global 100 most sustainable corporation list last January. We also receive a record four Environment Analyst Sustainability Delivery Awards, including the Sustainability Impact Award for the second consecutive year, a recognition giving that to a company that walks the talk in advancing its climate leadership and ESG journey. Finally, WSP won four categories at the UK New Civil Engineering Annual Awards, and we were named the 2024 Consultants of the Year. The judges commended our commitment to excellence, innovation, and our people-first approach. These distinctions highlight our leading scores in governance, environmental, metrics, diversity, and more. On that note, I will ask Alain to review our financial results in greater detail.