Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE:EEX) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 2, 2023 8:30 AM ET

Corporate Participants

Hervé Sedky - President, Chief Executive Officer

David Doft - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Barton Crockett - Rosenblatt

Allen Klee - Maxim Group

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Emerald Holding, Incorporated Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call.

Before we begin, let me remind everyone that this call will include certain statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Legislation Reform Act of 1995. These include remarks about future expectations, beliefs, estimates, plans and prospects. In particular, the company's statements about projected results for 2023 are forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors are set forth in the company's most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings. The company does not undertake any duty to update such forward-looking statements.

Additionally, during today's call, management will discuss non-GAAP measures, which it believes can be useful in evaluating the company's performance. The presentation of this additional information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures can be found in the company's earnings release.

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, and a replay of this call will be available on the Investors section of the company's website through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 9.

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Hervé Sedky, President and Chief Executive Officer. Sir, please go ahead.

Hervé Sedky

Well, thank you, Vanessa, and good morning, everyone. It's great to be all of you today to discuss our second-quarter results. I'll start with an overview of the trends that we're seeing so far this year and then give an update on our growth strategy focused on customer centricity, 365-day engagement and portfolio optimization. David Doft, CFO, will then provide more detail on the financials.

We continue to see strength in the recovery of live events as post-COVID demand is driving meaningful year-on-year growth in our business. We expect this trend to continue into 2024 and beyond as we see the return of international attendees and further improvements in our customer supply chain lead times as well as the impact of some of our strategic initiatives focused on enhancing customer experience and the tangible value we deliver to them.