Celanese Corporation (CE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Celanese Corporation 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I would now like to introduce your presenter, Celanese Chairman and CEO, Lori Ryerkerk.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Celanese Corporation. I am Lori Ryerkerk, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President. I will be presiding over this virtual meeting. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. I will now call this meeting to order. Let me introduce our other directors who are on the phone for the meeting. Edward Galante, our Lead Independent Director, Jean Blackwell, William Brown, Kathryn Hill, David Hoffmeister, Jay Ihlenfeld, Deborah Kissire, Kim Rucker, and John Wulff. The Board has elected Bill Brown as Lead Independent Director, effective at the conclusion of this annual meeting. The Board would like to thank Ed for his years of service as our Lead Independent Director. Kim Kesler and Jamie Brickman, representatives of KPMG LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, are also participating this afternoon. They will be available to respond to questions remain to the representation of the company. Our Board of Directors has appointed Bob Johnson of the Carideo Company to act as the Inspector of Election. Lynne Puckett, our General Counsel and Secretary, will serve as Secretary of this meeting. Scott Richardson, Executive Vice President and CFO; and Mike Sullivan, our Deputy General Counsel, were appointed by the Board as a proxy holders for this meeting. The agenda and rules of conduct for the meeting appear on the virtual shareholder meeting platform. During this meeting, stockholders will have the opportunity to submit questions or comments in writing in accordance with the rules of conduct and in the place indicated on the virtual shareholder meeting platform. We will take up questions following the conclusion of a formal meeting. No one attending the webcast is permitted to use any audio recording device. A replay of the meeting will be available after 24 hours on the virtual meeting site. We will turn it over to Lynne to provide the Secretary's report.

Thank you, Lori. February 18, 2021, was fixed by the Board of Directors as a record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at this meeting and any adjournment thereof. Proxy materials were sent to our stockholders. Based on the inspector's report and the company's bylaws, I declare that stockholders holding a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock entitled to vote are present or represented by proxy at this meeting, which constitutes a quorum, and we may carry out the business of the meeting at this time.

Thank you, Lynne. In the interest of time, we will waive a reading of the minutes of the last annual meeting. There are 3 items of business to be conducted today, each as described more fully in our proxy statement, the election of 10 directors for a 1-year term ending at the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The ratification of the selection of KPMG LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2021. And the advisory approval of our executive compensation. The company has not received notice from any of its stockholders as required under our bylaws of any other matter to be considered at today's meeting. Therefore, no proposals other than those set forth in the proxy statement may be properly introduced by stockholders at this meeting. These matters are now before us. It is now 1:06 p.m., and the polls are open for voting. We would like to remind stockholders that if they have previously voted their shares on the Internet, by phone or by submitting a proxy via the mail, then there is no need to vote again during this meeting. Stockholders who have not voted or who wish to change their vote may do so by following the instructions on the virtual shareholder meeting platform. A list of the registered holders of our common stock is available for review on the virtual shareholder meeting platform during this meeting. Please complete your voting on the virtual meeting platform. It is now 1:07 p.m., and I hereby declare that the polls are closed for voting. Based on the inspector's preliminary report of the voting, I declare that the 10 director nominees have been elected by the affirmative vote of a majority of the actual votes cast for election. The appointment of KPMG LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2021 has been ratified by a majority of the voting power entitled to vote. The advisory vote to approve executive compensation has been approved by the majority of the voting power entitled to vote. Lynne, please file the proxies, the report of the inspector of the elections, the affidavits and the certified list of stockholders as part of the records of this meeting. In accordance with the federal securities laws, the results of the voting will be reported on a Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 4 business days after the meeting. This concludes the formal portion of the 2021 Annual Stockholders Meeting. I declare that the formal meeting is adjourned. For those of you who are not able to attend our virtual Investor Day on March 25, we would like to invite you to view the presentation, which can be found by going to our Investor Relations website, investors.celanese.com. And choosing News and Events and selecting Events Calendar in the drop-down menus. There, you will find a video presentation in which we outlined our growth strategy and our outlook for our businesses as well as discuss our sustainability efforts. We will now transition to the question-and-answer section of the meeting. I'd like to introduce Brandon Ayache, Senior Director of Investors Relations.

Thank you, Lori. Before we begin Q&A, I'd like to remind you that answers provided may refer to forward-looking information, unaudited quarterly financial results and non-GAAP measures. You can find definitions of non-GAAP measures as well as reconciliations to the comparable measures on our website. Management will now answer questions that have been submitted on the virtual shareholder meeting platform. We will attempt to answer as many questions as time allows, but only questions that are germane to the meeting or our business will be answered. Any questions that are not answered during the meeting and which are germane to the meeting or our business will be addressed on our Investor Relations website following the meeting.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is, as the company evaluates M&A, should they look at funding startups in the relevant areas, seed funding around A, B, C, et cetera, as growth and returns are exponential for successful start-ups.

Thank you for the question. It's an interesting question. I mean yes, why growth in returns can be exponential for successful start-ups. Risk are also larger for start-ups in terms of whether they become successful or not. I would say, as it relates to M&A, we actually look at all levels of M&A, established company, newly -- relatively new companies that are in the early stages of development and maybe need additional funds for growth or technology help. And I mean, we do have various partnerships with universities and others looking for emerging technologies. So while I would say in the past, we've tended to do M&A with more mature company. We leave our options open for all levels of M&A as we look into new areas, especially in the area of sustainability.

There are no further questions at this time. Ms. Ryerkerk, I turn the call back over to you.

This concludes our meeting. Thank you very much for your interest in Celanese Corporation.

At this time, we will conclude our meeting. Ms. Ryerkerk, I turn the call back to you.

Again, thank you for your interest in Celanese Corporation.

Thank you. The Celanese Corporation 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders has now come to an end. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.