Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund Q2 2023 financial results conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, July 26th, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Susan. Please go ahead. Thanks, Julie. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for taking the time to attend our call today. I'm Susan Senecal. I'm President and CEO of A&W Food Services of Canada and CEO of the A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund. With me on the call today is Agatha Tymke, who is the Director of Finance of A&W Food Services. Unfortunately, Kelly Blankstein, who is the Chief Financial Officer of A&W Food Services and the fund, is unable to attend today's call. Today, we're presenting the fund's results for the second quarter, which ended on June 18, 2023. We are pleased with our results for the first half of 2023. Royalty Pool same-store sales growth was 2.5% in the second quarter and 4.1% year to date, which has led to a 4.8% increase in royalty income for the quarter and 6.4% year to date. Next, I will touch on the fund's structure and go through some more details about the financial results for the quarter. Before we can tell you more about our results, I need to read the following comment on forward-looking information. Certain statements in this presentation may be forward-looking in nature. These include statements with respect to the recovery of the food service industry and the ability of food services to rebound from the impacts of COVID-19, the food service industry resuming growth, timing for releasing the interim unaudited financial statements and MD&A of the Fund, building loyalty and enhancing performance over the long term. Actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are subject to a number of risk factors, including risks related to COVID-19, to the ability of food services to implement its strategies as planned, general economic and business conditions, financial and political instability, international conflict and other factors disclosed previously and from time to time in the Fund's public filings. Any forward-looking statements in this presentation should be evaluated in light of these important factors and, except as required by applicable securities laws, will not be updated if management's beliefs, estimates, or opinions or other factors should change. I'd like to speak to the Fund's structure and go through the financial results. We'll be happy to answer any questions at the end of our call. The Fund is a top-line fund, meaning that the distributable cash available to make distributions to unitholders is based on the sale of the restaurants in the Royalty Pool, with only minimal operating expenses associated with operating the Fund. For a more comprehensive description of the Fund's structures, please refer to the About the Fund section of the Fund's website. Next, I will go through our financial results for the second quarter of 2023 as compared to the second quarter of 2022. The news release, issued yesterday, summarizes the selected financial results of the Fund, and the interim unaudited financial statements and MD&A will be released in the coming days. The Royalty Pool same-store sales growth in both the quarter and the year-to-date period was primarily driven by growth in average check size, which was mainly attributable to modest increases in response to industry-wide inflation on goods, services, and labor. Royalty income for the second quarter of 2023 was CAD 12.8 million, based on gross sales reported by restaurants in the Royalty Pool of CAD 426 million, compared to royalty income of CAD 12.2 million and gross sales reported by A&W restaurants in the Royalty Pool of CAD 406 million for the second quarter of 2022. Year to date, royalty income was CAD 24.2 million, based on gross sales reported by restaurants in the Royalty Pool of CAD 807 million, compared to royalty income of CAD 22.8 million and gross sales reported by A&W restaurants in the Royalty Pool of CAD 759 million for the comparable period in 2022. The 4.8% increase in royalty income for the quarter and 6.4% year-to-date is attributable to the Royalty Pool same-store sales growth and the gross sales from the 22 new restaurants net, which were added to the Royalty Pool on January 5, 2023. The increase in royalty income for the year-to-date period was partially offset by there being one less day in 2023 as compared to 2022. Royalty Pool same-store sales growth is based on an equal number of days in the quarter and the year. Of significant interest to unitholders is the amount of distributable cash that the fund has generated to pay distributions and payout ratio. Distributable cash generated in the second quarter of 2023 was CAD 10.1 million, compared to CAD 9.5 million in the second quarter of 2022. Distributable cash generated in the year-to-date period was CAD 18.2 million, compared to CAD 15.5 million comparable period in 2022. This CAD 2.7 million year-to-date increase in distributable cash generated was attributable to the CAD 1.4 million increase in royalty income, a CAD 500,000 decrease in the term loan and other interest, and CAD 750,000 decrease in current tax expense. The decrease in the current tax expense in 2023 is largely driven by a timing difference related to when income from the partnership is captured in trademarks taxable income. Three monthly distributions totaling CAD 0.48 per unit were declared in the second quarter of 2023, compared to three monthly distributions totaling CAD 0.465 per unit in the second quarter of 2022. 5 monthly distributions totaling CAD 0.80 per unit were declared in the 2023 year-to-date period, compared to 5 monthly distributions totaling CAD 0.775 per unit for the comparable period in 2022. The current monthly distribution rate of CAD 0.16 per unit translates to an annualized distribution rate of CAD 1.92 per unit, which is a new high watermark for the fund. I will turn now to discussing the payout ratio, which is a key metric to unitholders. The fund's long-term objective is to maintain an annual payout ratio at or below 100%. However, the fund also strives to provide unitholders with regular monthly distributions, and as a result of seasonality sales in A&W Restaurants and the timing of current income taxes, the quarterly payout ratio fluctuates. The payout ratio for the second quarter of 2023 was 88.9%, compared to 89.2% for the second quarter of 2022. The year-to-date payout ratio for 2023 was 99.4%, compared to 110.7% for the comparable period in 2022. Year-to-date, the payout ratio of 99.4% is higher than the trailing four-quarter payout ratio of 91.9%, due both to the seasonality of sales and the timing impact of current income taxes. Next, I will provide an update on A&W Restaurants and some of A&W's key corporate developments. Food Services believes that its mission to become number one with millennial burger lovers, chosen and trusted for truly good food and the convenience they crave, have been strengths that have allowed A&W to continue to expand, innovate, and drive sales growth. A&W's brand positioning remains strong. Growth of new locations, industry-leading innovation, a safe and stable supply chain, and continued efforts to consistently deliver great-tasting food and a better guest experience are all expected to continue to contribute to building loyalty and enhancing performance over the long term. Food Services has continued to grow new A&W restaurants. As at June 18th, sorry, 2023, 8 new A&W restaurants had opened in 2023, 5 of which were opened during the second quarter of 2023, which brought the total number of A&W restaurants in Canada to 1,048, and an additional 8 restaurants were under construction as of June 18th, 2023. The early response from guests since we began a national advertising campaign for our A&W Brew Bar late in quarter two, has also been encouraging. The A&W Brew Bar is a strategic initiative which features both hot and cold drinks, including lattes and cappuccinos, as well as icy cold, frozen A&W Root Beer and other refreshing drinks you can get only at an A&W. The A&W Brew Bar is now available in over 560 locations across Canada. In 2022, Food Services signed an agreement to introduce the Pret brand within A&W restaurants in select markets in Canada for a 2-year pilot period. As at June 18th, 2023, 8 A&W locations, 3 in Vancouver and 5 in Toronto, were offering Pret products in their restaurants. The royalty payable to the fund applies to Pret products sold within A&W restaurants to the extent that such restaurants are in the Royalty Pool. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the A&W Annual Burgers to Beat MS Day is coming up on August 17th, where CAD 2 from every Teen Burger purchased on that day will go to the MS Canada and support Canadians living with MS. Thanks for your attention, I'd now be happy to answer any of your questions. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. If you'd like to withdraw your question, please press the star followed by the two. If you're using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment, please, for your first question. Once again, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star one. Susan, there are no questions at this time. Please proceed with your closing remarks. Thank you. Thanks again for joining us, if we do have a question that you think of after the call, we will be happy to answer it. You can call myself or Kelly Blankstein at area code 604-988-2141. We look forward to updating on their Q3 results when they come along in a couple of months. Thanks very much. Enjoy the rest of the summer. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for joining, and you may now disconnect your line.