Welcome to the Ardagh Metal Packaging Second Quarter 2021 Investor Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Oliver Graham, CEO of Ardagh Metal Packaging. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Mary. Welcome, everybody, and thank you for joining us today for Ardagh Metal Packaging's Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Call, which follows the release last Thursday of our results for the quarter. I'm joined today by David Bourne, our Chief Financial Officer; and by John Sheehan, Corporate Development and Investor Relations Director. Our remarks today will include certain forward-looking statements. These reflect circumstances at the time they are made and the company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied due to a wide range of factors, including those set forth in our SEC filings and news releases. Before commencing, we would direct you to our various SEC filings, which include our registration statement on Form F-4, which includes the prospectus and a proxy statement and contains important information about our Metal Packaging business. Gores Holdings V and the proposed transactions, including a discussion of the risks that could affect the proposed transactions. Copies of the registration statement, the Gores Holdings V proxy statement and other documents, including an investor presentation filed with the SEC relating to the proposed transactions are available free of charge on the SEC website. This conference call is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute a solicitation of a proxy from any person or an offer to buy or sell any securities in any jurisdiction in which the offer or sale would be unwilful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any jurisdiction. Our earnings release and related materials for the second quarter can be found on our website at ardaghmetalpackaging.com. Information regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures may also be found in the notes section of the release, which…

[Operator Instructions] We can now take our first question, caller your line is open. Please go ahead.

This is Mike Lee here from Barclays. First question, just on the outlook. I think you mentioned EBITDA being at least in line with previous guide. So it sounds like you might be seeing some upside there. So, curious, is that just market demand coming in better, better cost control or execution? If you can maybe just flesh out a bit more how you're seeing things come in, maybe a little bit better, that would be helpful.

Sure. Yes. I think that we are seeing market demand is extremely strong. I think I mentioned that across all 3 regions. I think we have improved operating performance in a number of areas of the business. So we see -- yes, those are probably the 2 main areas we see some potential upside for the rest of the year.

Got it. That's helpful. And then I think originally, you had laid out expectations for elevated growth CapEx through next year, and then that would drop down and free cash flow conversion would pick up. I guess as we get closer now to 2023, and given everything you just said about your bullishness on the market, should we expect further growth investment as we move out to that time period? Or I guess just how are you thinking about further opportunities for growth CapEx as we move beyond 2022?

Yes. No, I think we've signaled that there are active discussions going on with customers. The market does remain very strong. Customers are keen to underpin their growth plans in the years beyond '23 and '24. And so we are talking to them about that. Nothing is fully concluded. But yes, we would expect to see further growth investments beyond this plan.

Now we can now take our next question, caller your line is open. Please go ahead.

First is, I wonder if you could just review some of the cash items, for instance, for 2021, is -- like CapEx still around $900 million, is cash taxes still around $50 million? And any thoughts on working capital and lower outflow for the full year?

Sure. I'll pass that to David.

Yes. Hi everybody. So yes, our overall CapEx will be around about the $900 million mark, [ BGI ] of $800 million maintenance CapEx of $100 million, cash tax around $50 million. And what was the other question you asked?

Working capital inflow, outflow.

Working capital, we anticipate to be neutral for the full year. Yes.

Will be -- I'm sorry, I didn't catch that last word.

Neutral for the full year, so yes.

Got it. How much we dial in for the second half of 2021 for cash transaction costs? Stand-up costs, that sort of thing.

I think projections around about the 90-ish mark for that.

And your outlook play. And lastly, as of June, what was the amount of the off-balance sheet receivables that were dedicated to AMP?

So the off-balance sheet receivables for AMP were [ $329 million ] for the second quarter.

[Operator Instructions] We can now take our next question, caller your line is open. Please go ahead.

Gabe Hajde, Wells Fargo. I had a question in terms of, I guess, confidence level. I know it's tough sometimes sitting on the side of the table. We're hearing from some of the, I guess, heartfelt brands that they have a little lower level of visibility. And I appreciate that's not the only area of growth. But just in terms of either conversions from PET or other substrates or new product introductions, what gives you the confidence that I guess, at the end of the day, there won't be an oversupply issue when we roll out 18 months from now.

Sure. Yes. So look, first of all, I mean, hard sales is mid-teens of our business, North America, mid-single digits of our business globally. So we obviously have a lot of our business and our business growth at the moment in Brazil and Europe that isn't linked to the category and is linked to other trends, particularly the sustainability trend, but in Brazil, the conversion from 2-way glass into single-use packaging, which is going almost entirely into can. So I think that's probably the first thing to say. The second is that hard sales just grew over 30% year-to-date. And I think I saw a number that they grew nearly 190% July 4, 2019, to July 4 weekend 2021. So we're still talking about a category with excellent growth. And we still see that category as growing almost exclusively in cans. There's a lot of innovation. There's still plenty of room on the advertising and promotion front. So we still predict that, that will get good growth. And our plans haven't changed with any of the recent news around the category, and that hasn't changed any of our belief about the -- our strategic plan and our investments. I think there are many other sources of growth in the North American market. I think if you look across the energy market, the sparkling water, all the mixed drinks that go across that space, they're in huge growth, a lot of innovation in that space. Traditional CSD is actually in growth in cans, which is obviously a big weight in the market when that starts to go up. And we see that there's strong possibilities for still water to come into beverage cans in the years ahead, and that's another huge market. So I think that there's been a shift in the position of beverage can in the packaging industry, and that shift is, we think, going to benefit the growth of the industry for many years to come.

And we can now take our next question, caller your line is open. Please go ahead.

This is Travis Edwards with Goldman Sachs. Just had a quick question as far as your specialty can mix. Can you just refresh us on what the target is as far as -- especially can to your overall total volumes. Is there a target? Or is it just going to based on demand, we'll be curious to see if there's any sort of specifics around what sort of mix you'd like to make that out as part of your total volumes?

Sure. Yes, Travis, I think we've put that out there with the plan, right. So over 80% of the investment in the plant in specialty capacity, and that takes us, I think, over mid-50s in terms of specialty can penetration in our mix by 2024. So that's the current plan, and that fits with the investment program.

There are no further questions at this point. I will hand back to Mr. Oliver Graham for any additional or closing remarks.

Okay. Thank you very much for your time today and we look forward to updating you at the Q3 results. Thank you.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.