AGM 2021

May 13, 2021

Slides

My name is Christopher Cole. I am Chairman of the Board of WSP. Welcome to the twenty twenty one Annual Shareholder Meeting of WSP Global Inc. This year, we will once again be holding this meeting as a virtual meeting in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-nineteen pandemic and to prioritize and support the well-being of our shareholders, employees and other meeting attendees. I wish to thank you all for joining us here today. Hosting our annual shareholder meeting virtually allows us to give an equal opportunity to all shareholders to participate in the meeting regardless of their geographic location. Joining me on the webcast today are Pierre Soari, Vice Chairman of the Board of WSP Alexandre Lureux, President and CEO of WSP and Philippe Fortier, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of WSP. Also joining us virtually today are the other board members of WSP, all of which are nominee directors for this annual shareholder meeting. They are Louis Philippe Carrier, Linda Smith Galipo, Birgit Norgaard, Suzanne Rancourt and Paul Raymond. I would like to provide you with some general remarks on the conduct of this meeting. Please note that we have until twelve p. M. Eastern time to conclude all matters intended to be covered at this meeting. During such time, we will first hold the formal part of the meeting followed by a brief presentation by Alexandra and we will conclude with a question period. Should we encounter any technical issue and we are unable to proceed with the meeting, please be advised that the notice of the annual shareholder meeting has been properly sent to shareholders. A quorum is present. All matters to be voted upon shall be deemed to have been properly put before the meeting and the meeting will be adjourned. If we adjourn the meeting before the polls are closed, we will keep the web portal open until 12PM today to receive votes to the extent possible. The meeting agenda contains five matters to be voted on during the business part of the meeting and they are as follows. Presentation of the audited consolidated financial statements, WSP, for the year ending 12/31/2020, and the independent auditors report thereon. Election of each of the nominee directors who will serve until the end of the next annual meeting of the shareholders or until their successors are appointed. Three, appointment of the independent auditor of WSP for the forthcoming year and the authorization to the directors to fix the independent auditors remuneration. Consideration and approval in a non binding advisory capacity of the approach to executive compensation policies. And fifth, consideration of such other business, if any, that may properly come before the meeting. Please note that you will be able to vote on each matter throughout the formal part of the meeting by casting your vote on the left side of your screen. After we conclude the formal business to be conducted at the meeting, we will close the polls. Shareholders can submit their questions at any time during the meeting by entering them in the appropriate tab on the left side of your screen. Questions pertaining to the business conducted at the meeting will be read aloud at the end of such formal part. All other general questions will be addressed during the question period. If we receive similar questions through the web portal, we will combine them into one question. Shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders will also have the opportunity to ask their questions verbally by providing their phone number in the question box. A line operator will contact you and queue in the questions. The operator will open the line at the appropriate time during the question period. As always, the meeting will be conducted in both English and French. You can choose to follow the meeting in the original language spoken, in English only or in French only by selecting the appropriate tab above the presentation on the right side of your screen. Also, questions can be submitted in either French or English. Any questions that we do not get during the time do not get to during the time available will be addressed on our company website in the twenty twenty one annual meeting of shareholders page found in the investor section. To hold the formal part of the meeting in French, I have asked Pierre Soiree to chair that part of the annual shareholder meeting. And before I hand over to Pierre, please allow me to make a few remarks. As I reflect on an unprecedented year in our history, I'm extremely proud of the way we have managed this exceptionally difficult situation, how quickly decisions were made to keep employees safe and our achievements in this challenging context. 2020 demonstrated the agility of our platform, the strength of our foundation and the resilience of our employees across the globe. Whether our employees can work remotely or need to be on-site, they have remained focused on collaborating with each other and providing excellent client care. This action has benefited all our stakeholders and communities and exemplified our unfaltering commitment to delivering sustainable solutions in an ever changing environment. Before I go any further, on behalf of the board, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to management and employees for their unwavering efforts last year to take care of all our stakeholders interests and their ongoing contributions as we continue to navigate the pandemic landscape and beyond. At the beginning of this health crisis, we did not know what was ahead. As stewards of the company, the board and management work closely together to formulate and execute a plan. With no rules to follow, decisive action, experience and intuition came even more relevant. The pandemic has reinforced all our needs to be ready for any situation, especially the impact of risks exaggerated by the global crisis. The board will continue to assess the factors that could interrupt our ability to work safely and efficiently and endeavor to prepare for the unexpected. After all, organizational resilience is the ability of a business to withstand, adapt and thrive in the face of shocks that are internal and external as well as known and unknown. During this past year, WSP has exemplified its resilience time and time again, which is rooted in our diversification, both in terms of geography and service offering. If you have not yet had the opportunity to do so, please read our 02/20 annual report to see how our teams continue to provide critical support to our local communities in addition to helping our clients tackle many complex challenges. Whilst managing the challenges presented to us by the pandemic, our leadership has remained focused on strategy and opportunities for our business, staying true to our growth mindset. During the year, we successfully completed an equity offering to reinforce our balance sheet. Through the successful capital raise, investors have once again confirmed the trust they have in our business, including our long term anchor shareholders, LeCastapo and CPPIB. In 2020, we continue to push to the forefront of sustainable transformation, ensuring that the principles we believe in run a common thread through our activities. We continue to prioritize our environmental, social and governance matters. These are ways of working that affect every single aspect of our business, whether we are working for clients or decision making in our own operations. We must therefore consider these non financial matters as an integral part of our everyday business and not separately. Knowing that such engagement will enhance our company, people and shareholder value. We are pleased to be able to build on the solid ESG program we already have in place, as well as the right government support under the GEC committee. ESG is an area where risk and opportunities are changing rapidly and increased disclosure is rightly expected. We are pleased to have had many conversations with stakeholders on ESG over the last year and to listen to their expectations. For example, we will advance our task force on climate related financial disclosures, TCFD, this year, as we continuously question and build the resilience of our business. We continue to push forward ambitiously with our ESG program. For example, we are proud of our recent commitment to achieve net zero emissions across our value chain by 02/1940, supported by science based GHG emissions reduction targets. On the social side, we earned compliance leader verification for twenty twenty one-twenty twenty two from Ethisphere Institute. This is an independent external third party, which followed a rigorous review of our ethics and compliance program and corporate culture. Our long standing commitment to ESG issues was also recognized for the second year running as WSP was honored by World Finance Magazine as most suitable, sustainable company in the engineering industry in 2020. At the end of 2020, WSP set the stage for another transformative milestone by announcing the acquisition of Golda, a leading global environmental consulting firm. Following the closing of the acquisition in April of this year, WSP is ideally positioned to further benefit from the rapidly growing ESG trends, driving demand for environmental services, while being our clients' partner of choice on achieving their sustainability goals. In the context of this acquisition, we also welcomed two new global long term investors, GIC Private Limited and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. This is another proud moment for us and we thank them for their confidence in our company. Twenty twenty will remain in our members and the events have strengthened our group. Our people were able to effectively serve WSP's clients and deliver good financial and operational results for the year. This is a testament to our agility and resilience and 2020 performance should be celebrated by all of us. In 2021, WSP remains focused on delivering on the ambitions of our current strategic plan, while the board will support management in their planning for the next strategic cycle. Building on WSP's solid performance for the first quarter of the year released yesterday, we will remain vigilant regarding current risks and be alert to global circumstances while seeking opportunities to advance our strategic ambitions, continuing to build on our strengths and adapting to changes in the business environment. Before I turn to Pierre for the formal part of this meeting, I would like to thank him and the other board members for their continuous support and dedication to WSP during these complex times. I would like to reiterate our thanks to Alex and his leadership team and all our employees around the world for their perseverance and dedication. Thank you also to our shareholders for your trust and the support you have shown in WSP through these challenging times. We will forge ahead and remain focused on providing value to our shareholders, employees and clients while executing a sustainable and successful business in 2021 and beyond. Thank you. And now to you, Pierre. Thank you, Chris. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The Annual Meeting of Shareholders of WSP is now called to order. And at the request of the Chairman of the Board, I will act as President and Chairman for the formal portion of this meeting. Philip Fortier, WSP's Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, will be the secretary for the meeting and will ensure that procedures are adequately followed and documented. We will now proceed with the procedures of the meeting. For your information, Mr. Gertrin Bertrand Gelli and Ms. Megan Rocha, representative of AST Trust Company, will act as scrutineers for the purposes of this meeting. Their role is to count the votes received by proxy and those cast during this meeting. I will now ask Philippe Fortier, Secretary of this meeting, to confirm whether all required procedures have been followed to declare this meeting duly constituted to transact all business for which it was called. Thank you, Pierre. I have received confirmation from the scrutineers that all stakeholders, stockholders, shareholders entitled to receive a copy of the notice of WSP annual meeting of stockholders and of the availability of proxy materials in the form of proxy as of the thirty one March twenty twenty, the record date they have received them. Audited consolidated financial statements for WSP for the year ended 12/31/2020, have been sent to owners of common shares who specifically requested them and have been made available to all shareholders via SEDAR and on our website. The notice of meeting contains information on how to obtain the proxy circular and meeting materials and the documents for the meeting, including as noted above WSP's audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 12/31/2020. Everybody also knows how to request a printed copy in accordance with the notice and access procedures permitted by the Canadian securities administrators. You may access the notice of meeting and proxy statements for this meeting and the annual report for the year ended 12/31/2020, by clicking on the appropriate tab on the top left of your screen. In addition, a copy of all these documents as well as the affidavit confirming the mailing to shareholders will be kept on file by WSP. Scrutineers also have the list of company's shareholders as of 03/31/2021, which is the record date for determining who is eligible to vote at the meeting. Shareholders who wish to see the list at the meeting may do so by sending an email to us at corporatecommunications@wsp.com, which is also indicated on the screen in front of you. Prior to the commencement or the beginning of this meeting, the scrutineers have informed me of the number of shareholder registrations and proxies received. And on this basis, I confirm that we have quorum for the meeting. The scrutineers report will also be included in the minutes of today's meeting. Accordingly, I declare that this meeting has been duly convened and is duly constituted to transact all the business for which it was convened. Thank you, Philip. I will now file the audited annual consolidated financial statements of WSP for the year ended 12/31/2020. These financial statements are accompanied by the independent auditors report. A copy of the 2020 annual report has been sent to those shareholders who have requested it. As you've had the opportunity to review it, I would ask the Secretary to attach this document to the minutes of the meeting of the annual report, including the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 12/31/2020, and the independent auditors report thereon. Before proceeding to the adoption of the resolutions, I would like to comment briefly on the voting procedure. Each share of WSP entitles the shareholder to one vote on all matters to be dealt with at the meeting. The outcome of the matters to be voted on will be determined by a majority of votes cast at the meeting by proxy or at the meeting by the shareholders. As indicated in the notice of meeting, the deadline for submitting proxies was 05/11/2021 at eleven a. M. Scrutineers have informed me that on the base of proxies received prior to the meeting, approximately 72% of shares entitled to be voted at the meeting will be voted on today. The majority will be in favor of each of the items to be voted on. In order to simplify and expedite the procedures over the course of the meeting, we have asked two shareholders participating in our webcast to introduce and second each of the proposals. Let's move on to the election directors. The board set the number of directors to be elected at the meeting at eight. All of the current members of the board previously nominated are standing for reelection as directors. The background of each of the nominees is described in greater detail in the proxy circular, which also contains a list of eight nominees for election as directors. The nominees are Louis Philippe Carrier, Christopher Cole, Alexandre Le Roux, Birgit Norgard, Suzanne Rancourt, Paul Raymond, Linda Smith Gallipot and myself, Pierre Schwari. Quintin Weber is shareholder of the company is willing to nominate these individuals for election as directors of the company. Thank you, Mr. Soiree. My name is Quentin Weber and I am a shareholder of the company. I hereby nominate Louis Philippe Carrier, Christopher Cole, Alexandre Le Reu, Bregard Nargard, Suzanne Rencourt, Paul Raymond, Linda Smith Gallipo and Pierre Soiry as directors of the company. Thank you, Quintin. Joelle L. Figuillie, a shareholder of the company is willing to second this motion. Thank Mr. Soiree, Joel L. Fegari, a shareholder of the company and I second this motion. I now declare the nominee period over. I confirm that each of the nominees have been confirmed to and are willing to sit on the board and each of these people are eligible to be a director under the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act. The nominations have been duly made and seconded. And now we will move to a vote for each of the candidates. Each registered shareholder or proxy holder who has not yet voted by proxy or who wishes to change their vote may do so now using the virtual platform. Shareholders who have already voted and who do not wish to change their voting instructions should wait until the end of the current voting period. We'll take a few second break to give you a chance to vote. Thank you for having voted. Based on the preliminary votes, I declare the motion carried and each of the directors duly elected until the next annual general meeting or until the election of their successor. The second resolution is on the appointment of the independent auditor for the current fiscal year and the authorization of the Board of Directors of WSP to establish compensation. Management and the Board of Directors of WSP believe that it is appropriate to appoint the accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers as WSP's independent auditor until the next Annual General Meeting. Quentin Weber, a shareholder of the company, is prepared to make the necessary motion with respect to the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Thank you, Mr. Joaquin. My name is Quentin Weiser Weber. I am a shareholder of the company. I hereby move that PricewaterhouseCoopers compensation. Thank you, Quentin. Joelle El Figalie, a shareholder of the company is in place to second this motion. Thank you, Mr. Joaoie. Joelle El Figalie, I am a shareholder of the company and I support this motion. Thank you, Joelle. The motion having been duly made and seconded, we will now proceed to a vote. Any registered shareholder or proxy holder who has not yet voted by proxy or who wishes to change his or her voting instruction may do so right now using the virtual platform. Shareholders who have already voted and who do not wish to change their voting instructions should simply wait until the end of the current voting period. We will take a few second break to give you the time to vote. Thank you for having voted. Based on preliminary votes, I declare this motion passed, carried and that the accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers is duly appointed as WSP's independent auditor until the next annual meeting and that the WSP Board of Directors is authorized to establish its compensation. Let's now turn to the motion on the non binding advisory vote on executive compensation, which is detailed in the proxy statement that has been made available to shareholders in advance of this annual meeting. The resolution is submitted to shareholders, reads as follows: Be it resolved on advisory basis and not to diminish the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Directors that the shareholders accept the executive compensation formula explained in the company's circular as transmitted in advance of the twenty twenty Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Konstant Weber, a shareholder of the company is in place to move with respect to the adoption of this non binding executive compensation resolution. Thank you, Mr. Schwahi. My name is Quinta Weber. I'm a shareholder of the company. I hereby move that the non binding resolution on executive compensation be adopted. Thank you, Quintin. Joel El Segallie, a shareholder of the company, is in place to second this motion. Thank you, Mr. Shoire. Joel El Segallie, shareholder of the company, I second this motion. Thank you, Joel. The motion having been duly made and seconded. We will now proceed to a vote. Any registered shareholders or proxy holders who have not yet voted by proxy or who wish to change their voting instruction may do so now using the virtual platform. Shareholders who have already voted and who do not wish to change their voting instructions should simply wait to the end of the current voting period. We will give you several seconds for the vote. You have several seconds to vote. The voting period is now over. And based on preliminary votes, I declare the motion carried. Please note that the results of final votes will be tabled to Sedar in the twenty four following hours. That concludes the business of the meeting. Before closing the formal portion of the meeting, I would like to ask Philippe to confirm if any questions related to the meeting have been duly submitted through the web platform. Thank you, Pierre. I confirm that no question on the meeting has been submitted to the platform. Thank you, Philippe. Quinta Weber, a shareholder of the company, moves for the end of the formal portion of meeting. Thank you very much, Mr. Shoire. My name is Quentin Weber. I'm a shareholder of the company. I hereby move the adjournment of the formal portion of the meeting. Thank you, Quentin. Joel El Figuilly, a shareholder of the company is in place to be able to support this motion. Thank you, Mr. Sainte Joel El Figuilly, shareholder of the company. I second this motion. Thank you, Joel. The motion to adjourn the formal portion of the meeting having been duly made and seconded, I declare the motion carried and the formal portion of the twenty twenty one meeting of shareholders of WSP Global Inc. Adjourned. Thank you, Pierre. Before we move on, I would like to thank our shareholders for putting their trust in us and reelecting us as board members for an additional year. We will again spare no efforts to meet and even exceed your expectations. It's now my pleasure to ask Alexander Leroux to speak to the meeting. Please note that Alexander may be making some forward looking statements and that actual results could be different from those expressed or implied, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these forward looking statements except as required by law. Alexander, to you. Thank you, Chris. Thank you for joining us today for our annual shareholder meeting. If I may, I will continue my remarks in English so that our employees, customers, investors and the broader financial community will be able to follow the webcast simultaneously. Every global challenges and uncertainty, I am extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish. Our limits were tested as an organization and through the diligence, passion and commitment of our employees, we came out stronger. As COVID-nineteen reached pandemic status, 90% of our global workforce shifted to remote work. Our business continuity plans were put in action allowing our people to serve our clients and communities remotely without disruption as many of our projects and services are considered essential. Drawing on their expertise and vast experience, our teams provided the critical support needed to help keep our communities healthy. For example, from making vital protective gear for frontline COVID-nineteen workers to providing support and delivering two mobile hospitals to the Panamanian Red Cross to transforming a shipping container into high-tech isolation room in Hong Kong, our teams quickly stepped up to respond. I would like to thank our people for exemplifying resilience in the face of the pandemic and for confronting this unique moment in time with courage and openness while in many cases facing a completely different reality in their personal lives. After ensuring the safety and well-being of our people in addition to taking actions to safeguard our business, our mindset shifted to expanding on what could be possible in this new landscape for WSP's long term success. Although the horizon has been difficult to see at times, we embrace the changes and remain focused on our ambitions. In my opinion, the principles of our global strategy remain highly relevant. In view of our ambition to become the premier professional services firm in the industry, we remain focused on our foundational pillars of clients, people and culture, operational excellence and expertise. As a true partners to our client, the value we bring is anchored in our ability to help them face current challenges as well as prepare for the ones to come. Our client relationships whether new or long standing have only been strengthened by this pandemic. Our clients have seen firsthand our commitment to keep their projects and portfolio moving. Our global innovation program Future Ready has proven its relevancy more than ever given the global discussions taking place around the impact of the pandemic on our future. Through Future Ready, our experts explored various topics such as the post pandemic workplace, the future of public transport, rethinking urban planning and the impact of COVID-nineteen on global supply chains. I'm also proud to report that with the twenty twenty launch of Future Ready in Asia, Latin America and Central Europe, we have achieved our 2021 ambition to execute Future Ready globally, setting us apart in the way we deliver sustainable projects. Our people and our reputation are synonymous. It is through our professionals' exceptional work and unwavering dedication to the clients and communities they serve that we can have a profound impact on the world around us. Providing an environment for our people to deliver on their full potential is at the core of our people and culture strategy and has continued to be the case during the pandemic. Last year was a pivotal moment for our diverse workplace culture and strategy as we reimagined how and where we work within a different context. Our top priority was and continues to be to keep our employees safe, informed and connected. In creating a positive employee experience, we seek to obtain feedback from our people. This has been a key focus of our strategic cycle and our efforts have significantly increased during the pandemic. While ensuring our employees have the flexibility they need to continue to successfully deliver client services, we are committed to taking a conservative approach to returning to the office in compliance with government guidelines and will continue to embrace remote working wherever this is needed. Our people are our strength. We need their talent and know how, so we owe it to them to provide a sustainable and inclusive work environment in which we feel valued, respected and supported. Regardless of how challenging 2020 was, we remain committed to inclusion and diversity at WSP with an IND long term vision that is geared towards evolving our inclusive mindset and building diverse leadership teams. Our employees like our clients come from all backgrounds. When each of them is given an opportunity to thrive, develop and collaborate within a diversified team then our company will no doubt continue to be agile, innovative and resilient. Turning to operational excellence, we remain focused on coming out of the other side of this pandemic with a sustainable business that will retain its competitive edge. In addition to solid results, we also delivered on the financial objectives we set at the beginning of the pandemic, which were to maintain our margins and safeguard our financial position. Despite the decrease in revenues, we completed 2020 in a strong financial position with a healthy backlog and improved adjusted EBITDA margin and record cash flows. Revenues and net revenues for the year reached $8,800,000,000 and $6,900,000,000 respectively, down 1.3% or 0.4% compared to 2019. Backlog stood at $8,400,000,000 representing eleven point five months of revenues, up $289,500,000 or 3.6% compared to last year, including organic growth of 2.4%. We also reported an adjusted EBITDA of $1,053,700,000 slightly surpassing our expectations and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.4%, up from 15.1% the year before. In terms of other metrics, we were pleased to report that days sales outstanding continue to decrease and reach 63 at the end of twenty twenty, well below our outlook range of seventy three days to seventy eight days. Our free cash flow for the year came in at $735,300,000 representing 266% of net earnings attributable to shareholders. As Chris mentioned, we were able to add increased flexibility to our balance sheet in the second quarter of twenty twenty with a successful equity offering bringing approximately $570,000,000 gross proceeds to our business. This not only provided increased financial resilience, but also the ability to pursue future growth opportunities. In addition, we recently closed our inaugural bond offering of 500,000,000 senior unsecured notes. This successful diversification of our capital structure and the strong investment grade credit rating we receive are further indicators of our resilience. Now turning to our sustainability efforts. At WSP, we take our responsibility for sustainable leadership very seriously, not only in the advice we provide to our clients but also in our own operations and footprint. We therefore continued to strengthen our commitment to our environmental, social and governance program as this must remain embedded in everything we undertake. These strategies underpin our belief, purpose and role and create short term and long term value for our stakeholders. In 2020, we were the first professional services firm in The Americas to secure sustainability linked terms for a syndicated credit facility. We continue to demonstrate leadership and maintain an ESG program that is relevant and ambitious through our involvement with various frameworks and sustainability rating agencies. We formally committed to take urgent climate action by aligning our future ambitions with the science based target initiatives. Last month, as Chris mentioned, we announced our commitment to achieve net zero mission across our value chain by 02/1940. Our ESG commitment goes hand in hand with the decision we make to grow our business. And growth has always been part of our narrative, whether organic or acquisitive and naturally it has a part to play in our current strategy. It's not about being the biggest, but rather about how we can create additional value for clients, people and shareholders. Through an increasingly diversifying resilient platform, we are better equipped to handle volatility and ensure we increase our competitive edge. Though the pandemic and corresponding economic downturn may have made these activities more complex in 2020, we continue to explore the possibilities to bring value to all our stakeholders. In 2020, we completed two strategic acquisitions in The U. S. The acquisition of LT Environmental strengthened our expertise in the earth and science and environmental consulting sector, one of our key expansion areas and joining with KW Machine Critical Engineering has further consolidated WSP's property and buildings business in the complex data center, healthcare and science technology markets in The United States. With the recent announcement of the closing of the Golder acquisition, we have taken a major step towards a realization of our twenty nineteen, twenty twenty one strategic ambitions, including the significant diversification of our platform. This transaction allowed us to add another transformative milestone to our history as we are now the leading global environmental consulting firm in the industry. Our 54,000 global employees have embarked on a journey to advance the world's green transition supported by our 14,000 environmental experts. At the heart of our activities, including our future ready vision, we will focus on bringing new restorative balance to our built and natural environment. We intend to make a real and tangible impact in addressing the issues we face globally. To close the loop on M and A activity, since the beginning of the year, we have completed three other strategic acquisitions adding four thirty people to our operations. The addition of TK1SC, ERDC Consulting Group and B plus P have brought new clients relationships, market leading positions and an increased geographic footprint in The United States and Switzerland. I would like to once again welcome all of our newest colleagues to the WSP family. In conclusion, 2020 was a testament of our organization's ability to embrace change. WSP strength, the ability of our operating model and our resilient workforce allowed us to finish the year with solid performance and progress across all of our four strategic pillars, setting the stage for continued growth in 2020. We held our first quarter conference call earlier today. At this time, I will not go through our results in detail. However, I will reiterate that I am pleased with our performance in the first quarter of twenty twenty one, which can only be characterized as a solid start to the year. Despite starting the year with a reduction in headcount, we were nonetheless able to keep our productivity levels high allowing us to deliver strong margins. Given the positive trends we have been seeing across our regions and our performance to date, we believe we are favorably positioned to achieve our twenty nineteen-twenty twenty one strategic ambitions, notwithstanding these unprecedented times. As the full impact of this pandemic remains unknown, we do believe in our diversified business model from both a geographic and sector standpoint. WSP's client mix, strong balance sheet and regionally empowered leadership model should place us in a solid position to face challenges with strength and seek opportunities with an intention. I would like to thank our Board of Directors for their support, our clients for their trust and our shoulders for their loyalty. To our people, thank you for your dedication and perseverance. Thank you for exemplifying the possibilities in a time of tremendous uncertainty. I know we would not be where we are today without the contribution made by each one of you. As the world recalibrates to this new reality, we look forward to developing our twenty twenty two-twenty twenty four global strategic plan. This is the time to further assert our ambitions and industry leadership with what we believe to be the most diversified platform in the industry, I am filled with confidence, inspiration and gratitude for the direction we are heading as we begin to contemplate a new chapter in WSP's story. Thank you. And I will turn back to our Chairman. Chris? Thank you, Alex. Now, we would like to open things up for shareholder questions. We will start by reading aloud and answering the questions received through the web portal. If you wish to ask your question verbally, you can do so by providing your number in the question box. Our line operator will contact you and queue in the questions at the appropriate time. Please note that we will attempt to answer as many questions as possible within the allotted time. Any questions that we do not get to during the time available will be addressed on our company website under the twenty twenty one Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the page found in the investor section. If we receive similar questions, we will combine them into one question. Your questions should be addressed to the CEO who will answer the questions or redirect them as need be. Questions, please. Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that there are no questions. I will now turn it to our Chairman to conclude this meeting. And I once again thank you all for your continued support. Mr. Chairman? Thank you, Alex. Thank you very much. We thank you for attending this virtual annual shareholder meeting of WSP. I'm confident that given WSP's resiliency in the face of adversity and continued drive to challenge the status quo, we will continue to build on this tremendous legacy. I look forward to seeing you in person at next year's annual shareholder meeting. And in the meantime, stay safe and healthy. And thank you for attending.