Shaun Usmar
Analyst · Tanya with Scotiabank. Your line is open
Thanks, James. This is likely the last set of results I'll present as CEO of Triple Flag. I started the business in May of 2016 with nothing more than the undertaking of a great financial partner in Elliott Management, specifically embodied in Mark Cicirelli, the driving force behind this journey. I shared an appreciation of the many advantages of the streaming and royalty business model and a vision of what value could be created by applying this model to an underserved mining sector. With the company approaching nine years of execution and delivery, I'm proud of what we've built together and I'm forever grateful for the opportunity afforded to me. We've come from obscurity to become the fourth largest precious metal streaming and royalty company in the sector. With these latest results, we've delivered a strong start to 2024 with record performance in the first half, which puts us nicely on track to achieving our guidance of 105,000 GEOs to 115,000 GEOs for 2024. This would represent our eighth consecutive projected year of record GEO growth for our business and builds on the 34% CAGR in operating cash flow this team has already delivered over the past seven years. I'm not aware of any competitor having replicated this delivery, certainly under similar conditions and timeframes. Our job is to allocate capital and create value for our stakeholders through rational risk-taking in pursuit of growing value per share. I'm proud of our track record, which is on full display on an absolute and relative basis and stack up favorably on objective metrics. We've not been flawless, as our disappointment at Pumpkin Hollow and Moss indicates this quarter, but this relates to two of our 236 assets, where the portfolio overall continues to deliver. No portfolio only has winners, and the overall portfolio performance continues to shine through. Our GEO guidance this year is nearly 40% ahead of our intermediate peers, and we remain the only competitor amongst our seniors and intermediates to be on track to deliver growth from our portfolio this year versus the prior year. We remain commercially well-placed to maximize value for our investors while forecasting continued robust growth through to 2028 and beyond from our existing portfolio. With our ample firepower of roughly $640 million in available pro-formula liquidity making our active deal pipeline fully actionable and cash flow for more than 30 assets, Triple Flag is diversified and well positioned to benefit from the current constructive metal price environment as we continue our relentless [indiscernible]. Although I'm proud of our objective financial and deal-making achievements, I'm particularly proud of how we've gone about delivering those results. As a relatively new company, this is perhaps best demonstrated by a second ranking by Sustainalytics of the 118 global companies covered in the precious metal sector, contributing millions of dollars to support our mining partner’s sustainability priorities to enhance the privilege to operate, help give back to the mining sector's future through many scholarship programs we've granted to talented students, and done so while maintaining our carbon neutrality since our inception. But the true asset I've helped develop at Triple Flag these past eight years is our team, and exceptional talent and depth of experience it contains, this team has delivered the deals, the growth, managed the risks, nurtured our stakeholder relationships, cultivated our deal pipeline, delivered the largest TSX mining IPO in eight years, and delivered growth in value, both financial and social, as large investors in Triple Flag themselves. I'll miss them all. This truly is the secret source, our competitive advantage, along with the inclusive, caring, and deeply analytical, highly engaged culture that drives our performance. Taking on new challenges as CEO of Value Base Metals would not have been possible if the business was not performing well and with our business on track to deliver our eighth year of record growth and our balance sheet in pristine condition and our underperforming assets cleaned up while our core assets continue to deliver strongly during times of robust commodity prices, clearly this is a good time. An equally important requirement was to provide the Board with strong succession possibilities. We've committed significant time, money, and resources in developing our internal talent depth over the past few years while day-lighting strong external talent alternatives. As the largest individual shareholder, I'm grateful to the Board for acting decisively in appointing Sheldon as my successor. I know he is the right choice to lead this team into an even better future as someone who joined me on this journey from my second week, has helped deliver every deal, and has a perfect cocktail of integrity, great commercial acumen, and importantly, has the respect and support of the team he'll be leading. He's been my right-hand and business partner for the past eight and a half years and I'm proud of all he's achieved in his personal and professional growth. The transition is accordingly proceeding seamlessly, and Sheldon is already running the company on a day-to-day basis. I expect he'll formally take over by the end of the quarter as I transition to my new role. I'd also like to think that Sheldon and the Board made excellent decisions in appointing Eban Bari as CFO and James Dendle as COO, effective on my departure. They've both been with the company for many years, are deeply talented, are culture bearers, and are respected and admired by their teammates and our mining partners alike. Eban worked with me at Barrick in a senior finance capacity and offers depth and experience well beyond the scale of this organization. And James has been involved since our first deal in 2016, is deeply talented resource geologist and leader that has worked around the world and has successfully led our corporate development capabilities and our function through a successful IPO and beyond. He is a talent, the sector will benefit well into the future. I'd like to congratulate them both and look forward to watching them continue to grow, thrive, and deliver for our shareholders, myself included. Finally, I'd like to end by thanking Elliot, our incredible funding shareholder and partner, for their trust and sustained support, our Board for their guidance and leadership, our mining partners for their partnership and commitment, our investors for their trust with their money, and our remarkable team for making it all possible. It's been a privilege and a highlight of my career so far, and I leave with a sense of sadness, joy, pride, and excitement for the future. Thanks for the support and attention today. So with that, let's open it up to questions.