John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 2, 2024 9:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Kedric Meredith - Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations
Brian Deck - President and Chief Executive Officer
Matthew Meister - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Joe Grabowski - Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.
Walter Liptak - Seaport Global Securities LLC

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to JBT Corporation's First Quarter 2024 earnings conference call. My name is Marcelo, and I will be your conference operator today. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

I will now turn the call over to JBT's Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Mary Dave, to begin today's conference schedule. Kedric, you may begin.

Kedric Meredith

Thank you, Marcelo. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2024 conference call. With me on the call is our Chief Executive Officer, Brian Deck, and Chief Financial Officer, Matt Meister. In today's call, we will use forward-looking statements that are subject to the Safe Harbor language in yesterday's press release and eight K filing. JBT's periodic SEC filings also contain information regarding risk factors that may have an impact on our results. These documents are available in the Investor Relations section of our website. Also, our discussion today includes references to certain non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable GAAP measure can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website.

Now I'll turn the call over to Brian.

Brian Deck

Thanks, Kedric, and good morning, everyone. JBT's first quarter our seasonally lightest period came in largely as expected. Consistent with previously outlined commentary, we continued to capture margin expansion with a 60 basis point increase in adjusted EBITDA margins compared with the prior year period. As announced at our April 5th press release, we signed a definitive transaction agreement with for the agreement, which was approved by both companies' Board of Directors reflects extensive collaboration between the teams. Based on our diligence, it confirms our belief in the industrial logic of the combination and value creation opportunities for customers, shareholders and other stakeholders. The agreement also represents a significant step forward in anticipation of the submittal of a voluntary takeover offer.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Matt, who will walk you through our first quarter performance. Then I'll speak about the anticipated recovery in the poultry market and provide greater detail about the progress we've made on the proposed merger with Marel. Matt?