00:02 Good morning. My name is Britney, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome you to the Optical Cable Corporation third Quarter twenty twenty one Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any noise. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this call may be recorded and I will be standing by should you need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn today's program over to Aaron Palash. Mr. Palash, you may begin your conference.

00:37 Perfect. Thank you. Good morning and thank you all for participating on Optical Cable Corporation's third quarter fiscal year twenty twenty one conference call. By this time, everyone should have a copy of the earnings press release issued earlier today. You can also visit www.occfiber.com for a copy. On the call with us today are Neil Wilkin, President and Chief Executive Officer of OCC; and Tracy Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. 01:07 Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this call may contain forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The actual future results of Optical Cable Corporation may differ materially due to a number of factors and risks including, but not limited to those factors referenced in the forward looking statements section of this morning's press release. These cautionary statements apply to the content of the Internet webcast on www.occfiber.com, as well as today's call. 01:33 With that, I'll turn the call over to Neil Wilkin. Neil, please begin.

01:38 Thank you Aaron, and good morning, everyone. I will begin the call today with a few opening remarks. Tracy will then review the third quarter results for the three month and nine month periods ended July thirty one twenty twenty one in some additional detail. After Tracy's remarks we will answer as many of your questions as we can. 02:00 As is our normal practice, we will only take questions from analysts and institutional investors during the Q and A session. However, we also offer other shareholders, the opportunities to make questions in advance of our earnings call instructions regarding such submissions are included in our press release announcing the date and time of our call today. 02:26 During the third quarter, we delivered solid results by executing our targeted growth strategies and maintaining a deep focus on operating as efficiently as possible. We are optimistic and continue to see positive indicators of future strengthening in many of our markets with increasing sales and production volumes during our fiscal second and third quarters compared to last year. 02:53 Net sales increased fourteen point six percent during the third quarter and gross profits increased seventeen point eight percent in both cases compared to the same period last year. Our net sales continue to benefit from the lifting of some restrictions and reopening of certain markets that had been negatively impacted by the COVID-nineteen pandemic with stronger gains in our U.S. Markets than in other markets. 03:22 We are also seeing significant increases in our sales order backlog/forward load as we enter the fourth quarter. At the same time, the OCC team is working to proactively manage certain challenges, including obtaining desired volumes of some raw materials, expanding certain areas of our workforce and limiting certain cost increases. 03:50 OCC’s third quarter results reflect the hard work of our team and the steps we continue to take to protect the business, build on our strong place in the market and position the company to succeed as the effects of the pandemic subside. 04:07 Additionally, we have successfully taken steps to control costs and improve efficiencies, efforts which are ongoing. Year to date, through the third quarter of fiscal year twenty twenty one, we have decreased SG&A expenses one point five million dollars or ten point one percent compared to the same period last year. 04:32 With OCC’s differentiated core strengths and capabilities, as well as our enviable market positions, we remain confident that we will capture opportunities ahead and deliver value to our shareholders as market conditions continue to improve. 04:49 We believe that OCC is well positioned in our markets as we provide our customers with mission critical cable connectivity products and solutions and as we execute on our strategies to deliver enhanced value for shareholders. 05:06 And with that, I'll turn the call over to Tracy Smith, who will review an additional detail our third quarter of fiscal year twenty twenty one financial results.

05:17 Thank you, Neil. Consolidated net sales for the third quarter of fiscal twenty twenty one increased fourteen point six percent to fifteen point six million dollars compared to net sales of thirteen point six million dollars for the third quarter of fiscal twenty twenty. 05:34 Net sales increased in both our enterprise and specialty markets, including the wireless carrier market in the third quarter fiscal year twenty twenty one compared to the same period last year. 05:46 We believe net sales during the third quarter of fiscal year twenty twenty will positively impact as compared to the same period last year by the continued lifting of some restrictions and reopening of certain markets that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-nineteen pandemic. 06:02 Net sales to customers in the United States increased sixteen point six percent and net sales to customers outside of the United States increased six point three percent in the third quarter of fiscal year twenty twenty one, compared same period last year. Consolidated net sales for the first nine months of fiscal twenty twenty one were forty three point three million dollars, an increase of four point five percent compared to net sales of forty one point four million dollars for the same period last year. 06:34 Turning to gross profit, gross profit was four point one million dollars in the third quarter of fiscal twenty twenty one, an increase of seventeen point eight percent compared to three point five million dollars in the third quarter of fiscal twenty twenty. 06:49 Gross profit margin, our gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased to twenty six point two percent in the third quarter of fiscal twenty twenty one compared to twenty five point five percent in the third quarter of fiscal twenty twenty. 07:05…

12:02 Thank you, Tracy. And now, if any institutional investors or analysts have questions, we are happy to answer them. Britney, if you could please indicate instructions for our participants to call in any questions they may have, I would appreciate it. Again, we are only taking live questions from analysts and institutional investors.

13:08 Thank you, Britney. Aaron, are there any questions that were submitted by individual investors in advance on the call today?

13:15 Neil, I do not have any questions submitted in advance to the call.

13:20 Okay. Thank you. I would like to thank everyone for attending our third quarter conference call today. As always, we appreciate your time and your interest in Optical Cable Corporation. 13:34 In closing, this past Saturday marked the twentieth anniversary of the nine/eleven attacks on our country. We remember and thank all of those brave men and women who defended to defend our freedom and Liberty and the first responders who serve our nation and our communities. Thank you all.

14:02 This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.