ATS AGM 2026
Review the key takeaways and the transcript of this earnings call.
Transcript
Preview the first fifteen paragraphs, organized by speaker.
ATS Corporation's annual and special meeting of shareholders is about to begin. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. If you participate and disclose personal information, you will be deemed to consent to the recording, transfer, and use of same. The company's comments today, including any made during the question and answer period, may contain forward-looking information and may refer to non-IFRS measures. The company refers you to its cautionary statements regarding such information, which are currently displayed and which are found in its disclosure documents, including in its annual information form and most recently filed MD&A.
Such cautionary statement with respect to forward-looking information includes the material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such information, as well as the key assumptions and factors applied. Such statement with respect to non-IFRS measures notes that non-IFRS measures are intended to provide information to ATS shareholders and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for IFRS measures. To welcome you to the AGM, ATS has prepared a short video which we will play before the meeting begins.
As we look ahead, ATS is moving forward with confidence, shaped by the progress we've made and the differentiated capabilities we continue to build. We play a critical role in providing automation solutions that enable our customers' success by delivering intelligent solutions that help customers operate more efficiently and competitively. Combining advanced automation technologies, engineering excellence, technical integration expertise, and purpose-built digital capabilities, we support complex production environments across Life Sciences, food and beverage, energy, and consumer product markets. Anchored by the ATS Business Model, our ABM, our businesses are continuously evolving, anticipating what's next, and developing capabilities that drive measurable impact and long-term value for our customers. We remain committed to delivering results for our stakeholders. The pursuit of performance drives us every day.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the ATS Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders for 2026. I'm Mike Martino, Chair of the Board and proud shareholder of ATS. Doug Wright, Chief Executive Officer of ATS, and Anne Cybulski, ATS's Interim Chief Financial Officer, are both available to be answering questions later in the meeting and are participating online with me. This is my first full year serving as Chair of ATS. It has been a privilege to work closely with the board and management team during this important time for the company.
As the largest owner of ATS stock, and with 20 years with the company, I decided to take the chair seat because I was both dissatisfied with the company's performance over the last three years and because I'm absolutely convinced that ATS is an undervalued platform that can grow in value by multiples of its current valuation over the next few years. It is my mission to make that happen. The first step in that mission is to redouble the board's work on value creation. Diligent oversight and risk mitigation are, of course, fundamental, but the board will hold itself to a higher standard. Every decision of the board will be judged by one question: Does it make ATS a more valuable company? We've already strengthened the management team. We're fortunate to recruit Doug Wright as our CEO. Doug is moving quickly and decisively to drive shareholder value.
First, by building a stronger team around him, which includes Sarah Moore as the head of our largest group, Life Sciences. Both Doug and Sarah have a strong background in lean continuous improvement. That lean continuous improvement lens is the first of our four value creation levers that we are focused on under Doug's leadership. We are driving this lean management system, what we call the ATS Business Model, or ABM, much deeper into our operations and holding each business accountable for results. Some shareholders believe that we've already achieved most of the possible gains from the ABM. That is wrong. We believe that significant margin improvement can begin to be achieved in the next 18 months. We've given the divisional managers new tools to achieve these gains, creating a structure that allows each manager to maximize his or her division's cash flow return on investment.
These tools will ensure that capital is used to maximize the value creation across our portfolio of companies. Next, driving aftermarket sales and service revenue to be a meaningfully larger percentage of our revenues. Best-in-class competitors achieve greater than 40% aftermarket revenues, which results in higher earnings multiple. ATS will drive toward best-in-class aftermarket mix by placing greater emphasis on supporting customers throughout the entire life cycle of our equipment, and by implementing dedicated sales strategies that ensure we capture more of the aftermarket business our installed base naturally generates. We are already seeing encouraging progress, with aftermarket revenue growing faster than our equipment sales. Third, ensuring that we return to organic growth. This will come from enhanced technology investments, adding commercial tools to our ABM toolkit, which means using ABM to drive sales and positioning the portfolio in markets where demand for mission-critical automation is experiencing secular growth.
For example, small modular reactors, radiopharmaceuticals, and certain medical devices where ATS has unique capabilities. Finally, restarting value creation through capital allocation and M&A. We have rapidly deleveraged over the past 12 months. As we just reported, our net debt ratio is below three times, which can enable ATS to engage with larger value-accretive M&A targets. As a U.S.-listed company, ATS is uniquely positioned as a partner in an industry that is expected to consolidate over the next two years. As our Q1 fiscal 2027 earnings call was held earlier today, we will keep the meeting focused on the formal business of the corporation. Shareholders are encouraged to refer to the Q1 materials and earnings call on our investor relations webpage. Now to the business of the meeting. I now ask that the annual meeting and special meeting of the shareholders of the corporation come to order.
Once the formal business items of the meeting are complete, we will have some concluding remarks and then address any questions received throughout the course of the meeting using the instant messaging feature of the virtual interface. I will preside as chair of this meeting. Sarita Dankner, ATS Corporate Secretary, will act as Secretary of the meeting, and Arjun Kapur, Investor Relations Associate at ATS, will perform the role of moderator with respect to all questions submitted throughout the meeting. As matters of business to be conducted today, we have the election of directors, the reappointment of the corporation's auditor for the coming year, an advisory resolution on the corporation's approach to executive compensation, as well as a shareholder proposal seeking to amend bylaw number 1 of the corporation. If there are no objections, I will ask Anup Das and Luke Settle of Computershare Investor Services Inc.
to act as scrutineers for the meeting. The secretary has advised me that the notice calling this meeting, together with a form of proxy and the management information circular, have been made available to each director of the corporation, the auditors of the corporation, and each intermediary and registered holder of common shares of the corporation of record as of June 23rd, 2026, the record date for the meeting, in accordance with applicable laws. These materials are available on the corporation's website at atsautomation.com and on the corporation's profile on SEDAR+ and EDGAR. Our transfer agent, Computershare Investor Services Inc., has attested to the proper mailing of the notice calling the meeting. There has been filed with me proof of service of such mailing provided by the corporation's transfer agent. The scrutineers have provided me with their preliminary report regarding shareholder attendance at the meeting.
I am pleased to say that the scrutineers' report indicates that there are common shares representing just over 88% of all outstanding common shares of the corporation present at this virtual meeting or represented by proxy. Accordingly, I declare that the requisite quorum of shareholders is present, and I declare that the meeting is duly and properly constituted for the transaction of business. I direct that proof of mailing and the scrutineers' final report on attendance be annexed to the minutes of the meeting. As this meeting is being held virtually via live webcast, we think it is necessary to set out a few rules for orderly conduct. Questions can be submitted by using the instant messaging service of the Lumi virtual interface. When asking a question, please indicate your name, which entity you represent, if any, and if you are a shareholder, duly appointed proxy holder, or a guest.
Questions will be addressed during the question and answer period at the end of the meeting, provided that questions regarding procedural matters or directly related to the motions before the meeting, which are submitted by shareholders or their duly appointed proxy holder, may be addressed during the meeting. For purposes of the meeting today, voting on all matters will be conducted by electronic ballot. Registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders will be asked to vote on each business item after the presentation of all business items. If you have already voted, you do not need to do so again unless you wish to change your vote. If you vote again using the electronic ballot, your online vote during the meeting will revoke your previously submitted proxy. Once discussion on all items of business has been concluded, I will give you one minute to enter your votes.
If you haven't already voted by proxy, and I will then declare voting closed on all resolutions. When you are asked to vote, you will receive a message on the virtual interface requesting you to register your votes. You will only have a certain amount of time to do so when the polls are open. We will now proceed with the formal portion of today's meeting. I have been advised by Doug Wright that he would be prepared to second each of the motions in respect of the items of business outlined in the management information circular. Accordingly, unless there are any objections, I will take such motions as seconded with no further action. The first item of business is the presentation of the corporation's consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31st, 2026, and the auditor's report thereon.
Copies of such documents have been mailed to the shareholders who requested them and are also available on the corporation's website and on SEDAR+ and EDGAR. It is not proposed to read the financial statements to the meeting. Receipt and presentation of the financial statements for the year ended March 31st, 2026, are hereby acknowledged. I direct that the financial statements and the auditor's report thereon be annexed to the minutes of this meeting. We will now proceed with the election of directors. The number of directors to be elected at the meeting has been fixed at eight.
I move to nominate those persons specified in the management information circular for election as directors of the corporation to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders, or until their successors are duly elected or appointed in accordance with the articles and bylaws of the corporation, and take such motion as seconded by Doug Wright. The proposed nominees are Avik Dey, Joanne S. Ferstman, Kirsten Lange, Michael E. Martino, Sharon C. Pel, Daniel A. Pryor, Philip B. Whitehead, and William Douglas, Doug Wright. The board recommends that shareholders vote for each of the proposed nominees. If there are any further remarks with respect to the foregoing, please submit them now through the instant messaging service on the virtual interface.
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