Aecon Group Inc. (ARE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Aecon's [ 54th ] Annual Meeting of Shareholders. [Foreign Language] My name is John Beck, I'm the Chairman of Aecon Group. Joining me this morning are Jean-Louis Servranckx, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Aecon; Jerome Julier, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Martina Doyle, General Counsel, Public Company and Corporate Secretary; and Gordana Terkalas, Chief Vice President and Chief People Officer. In addition to those at the [indiscernible], a number of Aecon's officers and senior leadership team members are in attendance with us. Also attending this morning's meeting are our director nominees as well as [indiscernible] of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, corporation's auditors. All of us here today are shareholders and collectively can be proud to support and contribute to Aecon's role as an innovative partner in delivering critical infrastructure projects and building what matters to enable future generations [indiscernible]. Aecon is strategically focused on seamlessly working with our clients, partners, suppliers, indigenous rights holders and communities to pursue shared goals in advancing the energy transition. You'll hear more about this from our President and CEO, Jean-Louis Servranckx. This meeting offers registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders, including those joining us online via live webcast, an equal opportunity to participate, ask questions and vote at the meeting. [Operator Instructions] In order for us to expediently undertake discussion on any item proposed for vote, we encourage those joining us online to have specific questions on a formal item of business, including procedural matters to make such written submissions now, clearly identifying the applicable formal item of business. During the course of this meeting, at the appropriate time, such questions will be addressed prior to voting on the applicable motions. Questions that do not relate to any formal item of business will be addressed during the Q&A session. As in past years, we expect the vast majority of all votes will be cast in advance of this meeting by proxy. That said, registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders will be allowed to vote at this meeting in accordance with the instructions given during the course of this meeting. Those joining online will be able to vote through the webcast portal. Once the formal business of the meeting has been completed, we will have a question-and-answer session in which the aforementioned members of management and our Chair of the Corporate Governance, Nominating and Compensation Committee will be available to answer your questions. We will try to address as many questions as possible during the Q&A session. Accordingly, we ask that you limit any questions or comments to 2 minutes. I'd like to acknowledge the land we're meeting on the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the [indiscernible], the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat Peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and people now home know awareness of we gather our work to build infrastructure in collaboration with local communities to provide sustainable benefits for generations to come. Before we get on to today's agenda in alignment with our safety always culture, let's go over safety moment. Whether working on site or in an office location, nothing is more important than safety. In the unlikely event of a fire or an emergency event at Carlson Court today, please exit through closest doors, either the pay hallway doors, the doors in the lunch room or the [indiscernible] 2 doors. For the rest we will gather in the parking lot beside the building. Let me briefly explain the format of today's meeting. We will first deal with administrative items and then continue our meeting with the formal business, which is to receive the financial statements, to elect directors, to hold an advisory vote on approach to [indiscernible] executive compensation and to reappoint the auditors. Once the formal portion of the meeting is complete, we will hold the questions and answers session. I now call this Annual Meeting of Shareholders to order. I will act as Chair of this meeting, and Martina Doyle will act as Secretary for this meeting. [indiscernible] To expedite the formal portion of this meeting. Mr. [indiscernible] will second all motions unless there is an objection, I move pass and David Martin of Computershare Investor Services, Aecon's registrar and transfer agent, will act collectively as the scrutineer of this meeting. I would ask Martina Doyle to briefly address certain act of this meeting.

Mr. Chair, I would like to report that proper notice of this meeting, together with the form of proxy and the management information circular dated May 5, 2025, have been sent to each registered shareholder of record as of April 10, 2025, the record date for this meeting and has also been sent to all other persons entitled thereto. The mailing of materials has been certified by Computershare Investor Services, Inc. Additional copies of these materials are also available on our website and under our profile on SEDAR. Accordingly, unless there is an objection, I will dispense with the reading of the notice of meeting. A copy of the notice of meeting and proof of service shall be annexed to the minutes of the meeting. Scrutineer has provided a report on attendance, and it shows that there are 73 shareholders or proxy holders presently holding [ 29,355,410 ] common shares or 46.5% of the issued and outstanding shares eligible to vote represented at the meeting. And accordingly, I declare that the requisite quorum of shareholders is present in person or through live webcast or presented by proxy. And therefore, the meeting is properly constituted for the transaction of business. The scrutineers' report on attendance will be annexed to the minutes of the meeting. Before moving forward to the transaction of business and any subsequent discussion of Aecon's future and in light of the regulatory environment that all Canadian public companies currently operated as General Counsel of Public Company and Corporate Secretary of the corporation, I would like to remind everyone that certain information discussed here today, whether as part of remarks or in response to questions, may constitute forward-looking information and is therefore subject to important risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from the conclusions, forecasts and projections discussed during this meeting as certain material factors and assumptions are applied in drawing conclusions, forecasts and projections [indiscernible] in the forward looking information. Additional information about these and other important risks and uncertainties and material factors and assumptions that could cause results to differ materially from any forward-looking information can be found in the management information circular in Aecon's public disclosure record, particularly in our annual and quarterly MD&A filed under our progress to file on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.ca. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking information discussed in the meeting today speaks only as of today, and Aecon undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For the purposes of this meeting, voting on all items of business will be conducted by ballot, both online and in person. We have already submitted and completed proxy is not necessary to also vote online or cast a separate ballot since your vote will be recorded in accordance with your proxy instructions. Registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who have not already voted or who would like to change their vote may vote on each business item at any time and the polls are open for voting. The polls will be open until the end of the formal portion of this meeting. For those joining us through the live webcast, when you are asked to vote, the business items to be voted on your available voting options will be visible on the voting panel. To submit a vote, please click on one of the voting choices displayed on your screen. You will only have a certain amount of time to vote once the polls are open. In order to keep this meeting moving efficiently, we have arranged for certain shareholders to move the resolutions to be considered at this meeting and to be seconded. Of course, any registered shareholder or duly appointed proxy holder may comment on any resolution prior to the vote or should hold any comments on general matters until following the formal portion of this meeting. I have the minutes of the last meeting of shareholders of the corporation. Unless there is an objection, I will dispense with reading the minutes of meeting. John Beck will now transact the business of this motion.

The first item of business is the presentation of the consolidated financial statements of the corporation as reported by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditors of the corporation. These include the consolidated balance sheet, the consolidated statement of comprehensive income, the consolidated statement of changes in equity and the consolidated statement of cash flow, all for the year ended December 31, 2024, and the report of the auditors thereon. These financial statements are publicly available and were mailed to shareholders earlier this year. Our financial statements are available on our website or under our profile on SEDAR+ for anyone who did not receive a copy. I would ask the secretary to formally place the financial statements, including the report of the auditors before the meeting. The next item of business is the election of Directors. before we move on with the election process on behalf of the Board of management, it is my pleasure to now say a few words about a longtime Board member who is not standing for reelection and will retire at today's meeting. I thank Monica Sloan for her service and for being a steady leader in Aecon's success and growth. Monica joined Aecon's Board in 2013. During her 12 years of service, Aecon [indiscernible]. While of course, navigating some [indiscernible]. Monica's commitment to governance and delivering shareholder value along with a positive attitude have helped shape the product as a collaborative [indiscernible] help Directors we have today. Monica, if you kind [indiscernible]. Thank you, Monica, for your years of commitment and valuable [indiscernible]. We'll now proceed with the business of this meeting. Voting today will be conducted by ballot, both in person and online. Please open the online to registered holders and duly appointed proxy voters. If you submitted a proxy, it is not necessary to complete and submit a ballot. If you are a registered shareholder or proxy holder joining in person, scrutineer should have provided you with ballot [indiscernible] of this meeting. If you did not, and would like a ballot, please raise your hand and the scrutineer will provide one. The scrutineer will collect the ballot after all matters to be conducted by ballot. For those online, the polls are now open. And at this point, all registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who have proper logged into this meeting with their control number or user name and wish to vote will be able to see all business items to be voted on this meeting on the voting tab on their screen. Number of directors to be elected at this meeting fixed by resolution of [indiscernible] at 10. For corporation's nominees, myself, Susan Wolburgh Jenah, Leslie Kass, Stuart Lee, Rod Philips, Eric Rosenfeld, Jean-Louis Servanckx, Deborah S. Stein, Scott Stewart and Scott Thon are each to be elected to hold office until the close of 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the corporation or until their successors are duly elected or appointed in accordance to the article bylaws of the corporation. I would ask Gordana Terkalas to nominate each of the previously named individuals. For your information, proxies submitted prior to this meeting representing approximately [indiscernible] shares of the corporation were voted with of the nominees receiving votes in favor. Ranging from approximately [indiscernible]. Gordana?

Mr. chair, my name is Gordana Terkalas. I'm a shareholder of Aecon, and I'm pleased to nominate each of the aforementioned 10 individuals as directors of the corporation for the term previously stated.

Thank you, Gordana. corporation did not previously receive timely notice of any further nominations or persons for election as directors of the corporation as required by bylaw of the corporation. I declare the nominations closed. May I have a motion that each of the 10 persons nominated as directors of the corporation be so elected.

Mr. Chair, I so move.

I Second the motion.

Martina, are there any questions on this motion from the registered shareholders or proxy holders?

Mr. Chair, we have not received any questions on this motion. If any questions on this motion received will be addressed at the end of this meeting.

As there are no further questions we will no continue to next item of the business. The next item of business is the approval on an advisory basis of a resolution relating to Aecon's approach to executive compensation disclosed in the management information circular dated May 5, 2025. I believe that Gordana has a motion in this regard.

Mr. Chair, I move that the corporation's shareholders approve on an advisory basis and not to diminish the role and responsibilities of the Board, the approach to executive compensation disclosed in the management information circular dated May 5, 2025.

I will second the motion.

[indiscernible] questions on this motion of the registered shareholders [indiscernible].

Mr. Chair, we have not received any questions on this motion. If any questions on this motion are subsequently received, they will be addressed at the end of the meeting.

As there are no further questions, we will now continue with the next item of business. The next item of business is to reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of the corporation. I believe that Gordana has a motion regarding this item of business.

Mr. Chair, I move that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, chartered accountants of the City of Toronto in the province of Ontario, be reappointed as auditors of the corporation until close of the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the corporation or until a successor is appointed at a remuneration to be fixed by the Board and that the Board be authorized to fix such remuneration.

I second the motion.

Martina, are there any questions on this motion of registered shareholders or proxy voters present.

Mr. Chair, we have not received any questions on this motion. Any question on this motion will be addressed at the end of the meeting.

If you have already done so we invite you to submit your vote on all items on the agenda. We will provided [indiscernible] of shareholders and duly appointed proxy voters on approximately 1 more amendment to complete their ballots for both. For those with us here today in person, please provide your completed ballots to scrutineer now if you've already done so. For those joining online, once the online balloting closes, the voting page will disappear and your votes will automatically be submitted. The scrutineer will now proceed to collect any ballot forms from registered shareholders and duly appointed proxies present. [indiscernible] Are now closed that concludes the voting at today's meeting. I'd ask Martina to report on the proxies deposited prior to the meeting and the preliminary results based on the ballots cast at the meeting.

Based on the preliminary report from the scrutineer [indiscernible] on the proxies received in advance of this meeting and results of the ballots cast at this meeting, all director nominees have been elected and the reappointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as auditors of the corporation has been approved, and the Board has been authorized to the remuneration. Final report on voting be included in the minutes of the meeting and filed on SEDAR+. Accordingly, I declare that each of the 10 nominees have been elected as directors of the corporation to serve until the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the corporation or until their successors are elected PricewaterhouseCoopers as the auditors of the corporation has been approved and that the Board has been authorized to fix the remuneration. The advisory vote resolution on the corporation's approached executive compensation received a majority of votes cast in support of the resolution based on proxies received in advance of this meeting. While the resolution is an advisory resolution, the Board of Directors of Aecon will nevertheless take the results of the vote into account as appropriate when considering future compensation policies, procedures and decisions and in determining whether there is a need to increase Aecon's engagement with shareholders on compensation and related matters. The final results of the individual votes for each director, the advisory resolution on executive compensation and reappointment of the auditors will be reported in the press release and as part of the voting results filed in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

Is there any further business that may be properly brought before this meeting? Thank you, Martina. On behalf of the Board, I would like to express our appreciation for our shareholders' support and involvement. We thank you and encourage your continued participation in your AGM. If there's no further business, that concludes the formal business brought before this meeting. I now declare the formal portion of the meeting terminated. We'll now provide an opportunity for registered shareholders and proxy holders to ask any questions. During this session, we will endeavor to answer as many questions as possible. In order to allow for more questions to be answered and may consolidate multiple questions on the same topic. As the question period does now conclude -- let's open it up for questions. Okay. Any questions?

My name is Jerome -- and I have some questions, I guess, around the utilities business. It's a pretty big opportunity out there. What I understand is probably somewhere in the $200 billion market and you're at about $1 billion in revenues. I guess can you tell me about, I guess, what you see -- how you see this business in 10 years? How much of this will be organic versus inorganic through acquisitions, how you get there? A follow-up question on partnership with Oaktree.

Maybe I begin. Eric, with the rounding, you want to add something?

Eric is our utility sector leader.

Yes, United States is important for Aecon. It's part of our strategic plan. I think everybody can listen to me. It's part of our strategic plan. And the way we are going to grow in the United States is going to be in parallel through acquisitions and through organic development your question, it's not one or the other. It is both. It's exactly what the utilities sector have done. It means that we -- after we had this operation with Oaktree that is helping us because they have a perfect knowledge of the U.S. market. We made an acquisition during the summer 2024 of Extreme in Michigan. And in addition, we are looking for new jobs. And this is together that we're going to make it. So maybe, Eric, you can say more -- you could tell us more or less after 1.5 years where we are. And maybe Jerome, tell us a little about the financial results.

Certainly. Thank you for the question. I don't think it's either. Thanks for the question. You're right, it is an immense market there. Jerome, we talked about 1.5 years. That 1.5 years has been around planning and understanding the market. There is a long history of other companies rushing into the states and not understanding the rules of the road. We've tried to avoid that by taking time, but now it's time to execute. And so I was speaking to some of my colleagues, some of the Board members that we are now moving forward much more quickly with our Xtreme acquisition. We are using a land and expand. So we've landed Xtreme and their DTE relationship, and now we're broadening that out into batteries and substations, a wide range of different services we're offering. We're going to take that same approach and apply it in various different areas, whether that's organic or through acquisition. Jerome?

It's well articulated. I don't think there's much more to add. I'll just say the utilities business is slightly different, right? Typically, smaller ticket, shorter cycle execution usually under MSAs, which is a master service agreement contract. And so when you think about growth in that kind of mode, it's really important to understand getting qualification with the utility in question. Doing that organically can be a little bit of a slog, which is why M&A is sometimes favored for that expansion. It also gives you access to labor capability, equipment, resume. And so from our perspective, it's probably from the U.S. and a balanced growth strategy. Now organic is really important. This business has grown organically extraordinarily well over the last number of years, but M&A is going to be kind of another pillar for that growth strategy. So it's good. You had a question on Oaktree.

So I was just wondering a little bit...

Everybody can hear me.

So I mean, I look at the Oaktree preferred shares, I guess, as primarily debt. It's a little bit of a hybrid of equity and debt. But it seems like it does come at quite a high financing cost of somewhere between 12% and 14%. You traded roughly about 1/3 of the utilities segment. And it seems like the segment is large. You guys have a good reputation. You've got a good strategy in terms of expanding this. And it seemed like it was kind of executing in a way that the valuation was a little bit, in my opinion, probably a little bit low for what you have. And I was just wondering if you could speak around, I guess, at that particular moment, the evaluated process in terms of the alternatives, why Oaktree was best and maybe a little bit about how that partnership has evolved over time and whether or not it's met your expectations?

Yes. It's all good questions, and I'm uniquely positioned to answer them because I was the investment banker advising Aecon at the time. So I really -- I've got nowhere to hide. So the thing the Oaktree instrument, I think it's fine. You can consider a debt, but the reality, it is an equity instrument. It has kind of no teeth, so to speak. It is truly a convertible preferred share in kind of the traditional stacks. You note the [ PIK ] kind of accretion rate associated with that instrument. That doesn't speak to the equity ownership, right? So it's either kind of the 12% to 14% or the 27.5%. It's not both, right, which I think is critical to remember. It's also important to kind of put ourselves in the context of what it means for an investor to take an equity position in the subsidiary of a forever capital vehicle, which is a public company, right? And so when people look to monetize a portion of a subsidiary, the investor says to themselves, what is the natural liquidity event that's going to get me out of this instrument? And usually, if it's kind of a private equity investment, okay, well, they have to sell in a number of years, Aecon as a forever capital vehicle doesn't have that requirement. So from their perspective, they're very focused on kind of this 12% to 14% but it's really a way of them expressing that they're here for growth and expansion, but they're not there forever, which is totally fine for us. Candidly, if that instrument strikes at that 12% or 14%, it's probably a disappointing outcome for Oaktree and it will be a disappointing outcome for Aecon as well. We really see that as the 27.5% of the equity value of the business, just given the value and the growth that we see there. So I think that's the first piece. The next one is taking it back into the context of where Aecon was when that transaction was minted, we had $184 million convertible debenture at the mothership level that was going to be -- effectively need to be redeemed by the end of the year, where the share price was, if we were to do that instrument, effectively -- let's say we reissued a new convert under any kind of normal economic terms, you probably would ended up selling 1/4 of overall Aecon right, in order to redeem that convertible pref. But even if it's a new convertible pref, even with the premiums associated with those, you're probably looking at 20% or 25% of overall Aecon basically being sold to redeem that convertible pref. Whereas in this transaction, we were able to get a highly qualified strategic value-add partner in one of our subsidiaries, so kind of like 1/4 of the business and selling 27.5% of that quarter of the business and getting the same number of capital proceeds for the shareholders at the mothership level, which in our kind of like arithmetic was probably a very strong outcome and particularly in the overall context that we're base with at the time. So from our perspective, people look at that 12% to 14%. I look at 27.5%. I think that's truly what they've invested in, that's where how our alignment exists to grow the business together. And also from our perspective, given where we were at the time, it was candidly a quite strong outcome. And from a partnership standpoint, we had a list of people that we went to, right? It's a broad list of all the names you would have anticipated. at the outset of the process, I said, look, the party where we would likely want to end up with is the Power Fund team. It is within the Oaktree structure, the only group that focuses solely on equity investments and all they do is utility services investments. So from our standpoint, getting this type of partner, and particularly as we launch into a U.S. growth strategy, it's a little bit like getting some codes on how to play that market because this team has tracked every infrastructure and utility services transaction in that market in a very deep way, which we're Aecon is very strong at acquisitions. a business that's been built on acquisitions historically, but this just gives us kind of an additional layer of insight, which is very helpful kind of as we assess and move through it. So we've been very happy with the partnership. They don't charge any management fees. They -- I think our teams, whether it's on the corporate development side or on the utility side, speaks with them once twice 3, 4, 5 times a week, more sometimes, like it's a very, very strong partnership. So we're very, very pleased with.

Would you ever see yourself buying back shares. Would you ever see yourself buying back these shares or...

I mean, yes, right now, the key thing for Aecon is to continue to grow the utilities business. So all paths regardless of what the ultimate outcome is for kind of Oaktree's ownership in the utilities business, all of those paths are strengthened and amplified through strong growth and performance of that utilities practice, right? So from our standpoint, I think here and now, there's a number of options that are -- that exist and the more optionality that we afford Aecon shareholders, the better. And so we keep all those options open. And one of those things involves getting an audit completed on the utilities financial statements on a stand-alone basis. If people look kind of very carefully, they'd see that our audit fees went up, and that's one of the reasons why. And so for us, it's just a matter of keeping all the doors open.

Good question, good answers. Any other questions? As the question period is now concluded...

Sorry, I'll ask more questions. I guess I'll ask the capital allocation question. I've listened to your earnings calls in quite detail and Aecon always has prided itself as being a builder first. And -- but you're still a public company. And it seems like the intrinsic value that I see within the company. And it was nuclear utilities having such tailwinds, both here and in the United States. And I know that they all saying that the stock market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term. And I can see a path where you guys are probably a $5 billion company in the short term, probably something much larger in the future. So in the past 25 years, Aecon kind of traded within kind of a $10 to $20 per share range. And as a public company, you have some different allocation optionality that a private company doesn't necessarily have. So I just want to get your thoughts in terms of how you evaluate choice of reinvestment versus dividends, debt reduction and share buybacks.

Yes. It's a robust question, and there's a lot to tackle there. I'm going to answer it at a high level, and then maybe afterwards, you might have a deeper chat on kind of capital allocation, theory, but for sure. The core understanding, like when Aecon is generating capital, the way that we need to think about it is a couple of things. One is the balance sheet of a major projects, construction business is important because it allows us to secure new work. It gives confidence in our sureties. It's a competitive advantage at the mothership level. So for us, maintaining strong capital base at the mothership level is important. Utilities business is slightly different. It has its own kind of distinct balance sheet that's kind of a separate animal. Then it becomes a question of, okay, organic growth is the preferred growth mode. We look at from a capital expenditure standpoint, we review things on a return on capital employed basis. We have an operating capital committee that's led by our SVP of Finance, who's just sitting over there. And we kind of review new capital being deployed from it's a tunneling machine, if it's additional equipment, if it's an asphalt plant, an aggregates quarry. We think of all these things on kind of very specific basis to understand if it basically hurdles over return on capital employed thresholds. Then what comes afterwards becomes a big composition of capital. The first layer of that composition of capital is our current dividend stream, which is roughly $47.5 million paid on dividends to shareholders of $0.19 a quarter. And then afterwards, we then look at, okay, we've got debt reduction, M&A or share repurchases. And from our perspective, we kind of look at those on a competition for capital basis, say, okay, well, if we have very, very good growth opportunities that are strategically valuable for Aecon, that's an important port of call for us. Share repurchases where we have an NCIB program that's been put in place by the Board. So obviously, we use that tactically and we see value when we purchase shares as well. So all of that kind of goes into this mix on how we then map it out. The core thing from our standpoint, though, is generation of fresh capital from operations is kind of the spring that basically allows us to water off this entire garden. And right now, the big turn that we see is as we get off of the lump sum turnkey projects and legacy projects, that's where we see that improvement coming. So kind of like one, tackle that; step 2, make sure we're invested in the business and then step 3, have the capital compete for the best source for shareholders.

On that note about turnkey projects, if no one else has questions. If no one else has questions about the -- I'm happy to ask. Can you speak to about, I guess, the process and where you're at in terms of the lumps projects.

Okay. I'm going to do this one so that you will break. We are remaining with 3 legacy projects. They should all be substantially completed during the year 2025. We are working very hard one this one. Eglinton and Finch LRT because of Gordie Howe Bridge. We have had various settlements with our orders on those projects, and we are still seeking after substantial completion, finalization of all our commercial matters with client. We are extremely focused on jobs up to the final end, and we have taken all the lessons we could from those difficult projects. The fact that we now have more than 70% of collaborative projects on our backlog, while it was a few years ago, 24% is extremely important for us that will drive more certainty and stability on our margin. In addition, you've seen with our backlog that we don't have problem of revenue and activity for the year.

Any other questions? As the question period has now concluded, I'll now pass it over to Aecon's President and CEO, Jean-Louis Servranckx. While he makes his way over to the podium. Please turn your attention to the screens behind me for a short video before his remarks. [Presentation]

Good morning, and welcome, everyone. When I can see the dynamic roster of projects across North America and beyond, highlighting our key role in what we build, it gives me immense pride and I hope as shareholders, this is for you. It makes me so incredibly proud of our employees, what we deliver for our clients and how we contribute to building what matters to enable future generations to thrive. I'm very pleased to be here this morning with all of you, my fellow shareholders, members of the Board of Directors, Aecon's executive management team and employees. [Foreign Language] Thank you, John, for leading the first portion of today's meeting. I obviously second your thoughts and comments for our friend and outgoing Board member today. Thank you, Monica, for your dedicated service to Aecon, your friendship. Thank you for your passion for construction. Thank you for your trust. We will miss you. Safety. There is nothing more important at Aecon than our commitment to safety, but this is a constant pattern. This past year, we continued advancing key priority areas to strengthen our safety culture, but we are ultimately aiming higher for our performance every day. We are relentlessly focused on safety always as a mindset versus just something we talk about at the start of every task. This includes a commitment to leading the industry as a foundation company on the Canadian Construction Safety Council to elevate safety performance through the adoption of time to safety [indiscernible], a new fall protection standard and the adoption of new cut resistant [ gloves ]. Look at this. after 3 years of battle, we've made it. This has been adopted by the industry, very light, hard hat, reinforced on all the lateral. Anybody who is biking, would you ever bike with an helmet that has no chin straps, never ever. But in construction, nobody has chin straps. This one has chin straps. And the last but not the least, we have still a lot of accident with eyes because people just put their glasses and they take off their glasses and they forget about their glasses. The one are perfectly within the helmet. You can use it and you can take it out. I mean it's an enormous victory for 2.5 years, it has been adopted by the whole industry. Those standards are now being rolled out across our operation. I firmly believe, in addition, that safety is a precursor of performance and performance is key for Aecon. Financial results. Turning to our 2024 year-end financial results. This year was underscored by a full year revenue of EUR 4.2 billion, robust year-end backlog of EUR 6.7 billion, diversified across our operating sectors, significant new contract awards for projects linked to the energy transition and executed under more collaborative models and strong recurring revenue. And just over a month ago, Aecon reported results for the first quarter of 2025 with a backlog now of EUR 9.7 billion, the highest reported backlog in the history of the company. As I've just said a few minutes ago, it is worth noting that our activity now is comprised of more than 70% of collaborated contractual arrangements. This is extremely important. Acquisition. This year, we welcome new teams to Aecon through the successful completion of 3 strategic acquisitions. Aecon Utilities acquired a majority interest in Xtreme Power Line Construction, an electrical distribution utility contractor based in Michigan. Aecon Utilities acquired Ainsworth Power Construction, a very famous company from Toronto and electrical services and power system contractors headquartered here in Ontario. And Aecon acquired United Engineers & Construction, Inc., a nuclear and conventional power contractor headquartered in New Jersey. This was part of the competency that was missing, and we now have it with us. Those team enhance Aecon's position to harness significant opportunities across North America in the utilities, nuclear and conventional power sectors. During the year, Aecon also reached a settlement on one of its fixed price legacy projects with the remaining 3 legacy projects nearing completion. We spoke about it a few minutes ago. But moving forward, we anticipate improved profitability and even more important, improved margin predictability. Aecon was selected to advance projects in the more collaborative models and through progressive phases. As an example, the contractor terminal expansion project in Waterworks in Quebec, working with the Port of Montreal to deliver 60% of additional capacity, representing largest port expansion in recent Canadian history. Other examples, the Winnipeg North and sewage treatment plant bios upgrade project. This builds on our success working at the works facility, the Phase 1 for the past 4 years. Another example, the Scarborough subway extension stations, Rave and system project reached commercial close at the end of the year 2024, the first progressive design build project to move to the execution phase under a target price contract for Aecon. This is the blueprint for success on this collaborative project. Under those models, we have worked closely with our clients to develop projects and collaborate through progressive phases. We also continue to strategically grow our roster of international projects, including the redevelopment of the Cyril King Airport and Henry Rohlsen Airport in the U.S. Virgin Island in which Aecon Concession is a development lead and is concurrently working to transition to long-term operation and maintenance. This is a first of a kind. This is a progressive TPFOM design build finance operate and maintain. It just once again shows the expertise of our team with airports, especially at International. The Clayton Lloyd International Airport redevelopment in Anguilla, the Pendry Hotel in Barbados, the Kingstown Port in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Building on Aecon's established reputation in Canadian nuclear construction, Aecon continued its expansion in the U.S., including significant growth in the nuclear market. We are pleased to complete the strategic acquisition of United. We added additional scope to our feed water heater replacement work at the Dominion Energy North Anna Power Station in Virginia. And recently, we were awarded a contract with Energy Northwest for the moisture separator heater replacement at the Columbia Generating Station in Washington State and a contract for the South Texas Project Generating Station Unit 1 emergency cooling water piping replacement. This is a combined result of a strong expertise in Canada in major component replacement, added with a successful acquisition that we did a few years ago with [indiscernible] in the United States. In Canada, nuclear, we are successfully advancing the 3 largest nuclear refurbishments in North America, including the Bruce Power major component replacement as well as the refurbishment in Ontario. It is a 100% success for Aecon. All and any units refurbished in Canada are done by your company. We were pleased to recently commence the execution phase on the Darlington nuclear project, a tradeblazing undertaking to deliver the first grid-scale small modular reactor SMR in North America. Aecon remains strategically focused on projects linked to the energy transition and was proud to advance major projects across the nation, including the completion of the Site C generating station and Speedway Civil Works project in British Columbia, a wonderful project. The John Hart and Lador Speak upgrade project for the same client, Hydro BC and the Serelangle Sky Train Station project also in British Columbia, one. Multiple urban transportation solutions project in Ontario, such as the Finch West LRT, Eglinton LRT West Extension and the GO expansion Civil works. Subsequent to year-end, Aecon was pleased to reach completion of construction on the Oneida energy storage project in Ontario and the facility commenced commercial operation. It's one of the largest energy storage project, 250 megawatts in the world and definitely the largest in North America, all perfectly on time and on budget. Yes, Aecon is growing as a power company. Sustainability. Aecon is strategically focused on projects that allow clients to mitigate and adapt to change in the environment and harness electrification while aiming to mitigate our own climate change impact. As an example, in 2024, 59% of Aecon's revenue was linked to sustainability projects. And today, Aecon has achieved a 34% cumulative reduction since 2020 in Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emission based on intensity-based targets related revenue, surpassing our 30% reduction targets in advance of the 2030 target date. Aecon was proud to be named one of Canada's greenest employer, demonstrating our success in implementing international internal practices and fostering external partnerships that drive excellence in sustainability. Indigenous relation, building on our long-standing commitment to engaging with communities while supporting economic and community prosperity, Aecon has also been designated as a supply chain indigenous procurement champion by the Canadian Council for U. This designation recognized our commitment to setting industry standards and working collaboratively with indigenous businesses on procurement that involve measurable actions and leaving a lasting positive impact. In 2024, Aecon procured $127 billion of goods and services from the indigenous economy with a total of over $1 billion of indigenous spend up to date. We also established a new indigenous partnership to install preassembled units for the construction of the BHP Jansen wet mill area Stage 1 project in Saskatchewan and harness our Aecon Six Nation general partnership to safely execute the Oneida Energy Storage project. Turning to Aecon's outlook. Aecon continues to maintain a disciplined capital allocation approach to deliver long-term shareholder value. This is our priority. We are focused on making strategic investment in our operations to support access and entry into new markets and to create operational effectiveness. With record backlog in hand, recurring revenue programs continuing to see solid demand, a strong bid pipeline and the impact of strategic acquisitions completed in the second half of 2024, revenue in 2025 is expected to be stronger than 2024. We will be stronger in 2025. Moving forward, Aecon will continue to advance its Forward Together strategy to differentiate its service offering and execution capabilities to secure higher return projects linked to the energy transition and the more collaborative models and with a lower risk profile. Our continued investment in our people and growth has positioned Aecon to prosper in the years ahead. I'm very happy to see numerous people from the HR department in this room. People is everything in the construction company, driven by our dedicated leadership team and employees. Aecon has 8,000 strong employees here in Canada, in the U.S. and around the world. Our employees work very hard every day to persevere through challenges to meet our clients' expectation to bring our project to completion on time and on budget to ensure that Aecon leaves a positive impact on the communities we build. to create mutually beneficial relationships with local and indigenous communities and to ensure each one of us goes home safe each and every day. Aecon has the best people of the market, working on some of the world's most complex formidable projects. And for that, I thank them. On behalf of John Beck and I and the Board of Directors, we thank you for your continued support and your trust. [Foreign Language]

[indiscernible] meet all of you. Feel free. Thank you.