Good morning, and welcome to the Icahn Enterprises LP Q4 2018 Earnings Call with Jesse Lynn, General Counsel; Keith Cozza, President and CEO; and SungHwan Cho, Chief Financial Officer. I would now like to hand the call over to Jesse Lynn, who'll read the opening statement.

Thank you. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements we make in this presentation, including statements regarding our future performance and plans for our businesses and potential acquisitions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that are discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including economic, competitive, legal and other factors. Accordingly, there is no assurance that our expectations will be realized. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by law. This presentation also includes certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the back of this presentation. I'll now turn it over to Keith Cozza, our Chief Executive Officer.

Thanks, Jesse. Good morning and welcome to the fourth quarter 2018 Icahn Enterprises earnings conference call. Joining me on today's call is SungHwan Cho, our Chief Financial Officer. I will begin by providing some brief highlights. Sung will then provide an in-depth review of our financial results and the performance of our business segments. We will then be available to address your questions. Net income attributable to Icahn Enterprises for 2018 was $1.5 billion or $11.46 per LP unit, compared to net income of $2.4 billion or $14.80 per LP unit in 2017. For Q4, 2018, net income attributable to Icahn Enterprises was $935 million as compared to net income of $298 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Icahn enterprises for 2018 was $561 million compared to $642 million in 2017. Our investment funds earned a positive return of 4.3% in Q4, 2018 bringing our total return for the full year 2018 to positive 7.9%. 2018 performance was driven by significant gains from our short equity index positions. These were partially offset by net losses in our long core equity positions. We ended 2018 with a net short notional exposure of 24% compared to a net long notional exposure of 14% at the end of 2017. Our Energy segment had a solid year. 2018 net sales were $7.1 billion and consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $825 million. CVR's petroleum segment enjoyed strong crack spreads, low RIN prices and wide crude differentials throughout the year. The results of CVR's fertilizer segment improved in the second half of 2018 to create positive distributable cash flow in the fourth quarter. Net sales and service revenues for our automotive segment were $2.9 billion in 2018. Our automotive segment is in the process of implementing a multi-year transformational plan, which includes the…

Thanks, Keith. I'll begin by briefly reviewing our consolidated results and then highlight the performance of our operating segments and then comment on the strength of our balance sheet. For Q4 2018, net income attributable to Icahn Enterprises was $935 million as compared to net income of $298 million in the prior year period. Net loss attributable to Icahn Enterprises from continuing ops for Q4 '18 was $434 million compared to net income of $279 million in the prior year period. Full year net income attributable to Icahn Enterprises for 2018 was $1.5 billion compared to a net income of $2.4 billion in 2017. Net loss attributable to Icahn Enterprises from continuing ops for '18 was $213 million compared to net income of $2.3 billion in the prior year period. The prior period includes a $1 billion gain net of tax from the sale of ARL in June of 2017. As you can see on slide five, in Q4 2018 IEP had net income of $935 million compared to a net income of $298 million in the prior year period. The sales of ARI, Tropicana and Federal-Mogul which Keith mentioned earlier, resulted in substantial book gains for Q4 '18 which are included in our discontinued operations results. Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Icahn Enterprises for Q4 '18 was a loss of $104 million compared to a loss of $96 million in Q4 '17. Q4 '18 net income was negatively impacted by a goodwill impairment of $87 million in the Auto segment, also a reduction in the value of Tenneco stock, which was received in connection with the sale of Federal-Mogul reduced Q4 holding company net income and adjusted EBITDA by $434 million. Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Icahn Enterprises for the full year 2018 was $561 million compared to $642 million in…

Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. Our first question comes from the line of Dan Fannon of Jefferies. Your line is now open.

I guess, Keith, just to think about 2018, as you said was quite active. Your liquidity in your investments in the funds or cash is as high as it's been in some time. So I guess as you think about 2019, the environment, kind of what you're seeing, can you give us a sense of -- do you anticipate being more of a seller or buyer here? I guess where you -- I guess are more constructive whether that's at the fund level in terms of, I don't know, valuations or not, you're just kind of, I guess just a little bit of sense of kind of how you're thinking about the forward in terms of new investments or your current portfolio?

Sure, sure. Thanks, Dan. I would describe at the Investment segment level where finding probably better opportunities versus buying entire company's just because there's always idiosyncratic opportunities for the activist model to unlock certain value based on the circumstances of certain individual names and you've probably seen some of those that we've been publicly active and in the first quarter, whether it be or even the fourth quarter, whether you saw, you saw like the dull situation you saw our filing on Caesars. So we're finding spots to kind of implement our activist model in the Investment segment. On the -- so, and I think you'll see us continue to do that throughout 2019 while keeping it significantly hedged. But on the whole company front, as you pointed out, '17 we end -- 2018 have resulted in significant divestitures. It's not a change in strategy, it's just -- look, we've been -- we're getting fair prices for assets that we bought over the years harvested, improved profitability and optimized those operations. And as the cycles turn, we think we're getting adequate multiples where it's time to divest. So when you say net buyer, a net seller, in our world, everything's always for sale. It's a matter of price but we're also on the prowl for adding new segments to IEP it's -- and that's a matter of price as well. I'm slightly less optimistic on adding the new segments in the short term, just given where valuations are in our model of wanting to buy low and buy things cheap, right, and improve. And -- so but if cycles turn and I'm sure we'll have some new segments in there over the next few years.

And can you give us a little more color on the Auto segment. You gave us a strategy and kind of what the kind of restructuring or kind of reorg is doing. But financially how should we think about what that should look like from either kind of a margin or EBITDA contribution? I guess what are the goals in the time periods you think you're going to get through those changes?

Yes, sure. I think it's going to be a multiple year endeavor. There's multiple businesses within that Auto segment. As you know, the service side of the business has some nice secular tailwinds, some very good same-store sales growth and is the most and exciting part of the future of that segment. But then we have, as a reminder, we have about 2000 locations between the owned and franchised service centers. But at the same time embedded in that business is also the store side of the business. Remember, there is about 800 stores and the retail environment is tough, we've been trying, we've been investing and growing out the commercial side of the business. But the commercial side of the business is incredibly expensive and so there is a ton of kind of front-loaded cost in growing the commercial side of the business. That takes time to ultimately then fill the sales volume and to spread out that cost. So, I think in the -- we're not -- we don't look at short term. So, but I get it that you're asking short term, I think it's going to be a grind over the next year to year and a half, two years of optimizing the cost structure and the supply chain and cleaning that up. And we're always looking at various strategies to optimize that. But it's going to take time. I don't have a specific number to tell you contribution or not, but obviously we want to -- obviously we want to grow it into something meaningfully profitable.

Okay. And then just given, although the transactions that you haven't gone, so is the loan pending one is now the ferrous that's outstanding in terms of what has -- have to close, everything else is kind of...

Yes, that's correct. All -- coincidentally all three that I referenced closed in the fourth quarter. Tropicana and Federal-Mogul closed October 1st, and American Railcar Industries closed in early December. And so we just have the ferrous will be sometime this year. It's working its way through the Brazilian antitrust process and then licensing process for transfer to Vale.

Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. I currently have no more questions in queue. I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Keith Cozza for closing remarks.

Okay. Thank you, operator and thank you everyone for joining us. And we'll look forward to catching up with you in late April, early May, regarding our first quarter results.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes today's program. You may all disconnect. Everyone have a great day.