Allied Gold Corp (AAUC) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you all for joining us this morning. Before I turn the call over, I need to advise that certain statements made during this call today may contain forward-looking information and actual results could differ from the conclusions or projections in that forward-looking information, which include but are not limited to statements with respect to the estimation of mineral reserves and resources.

The timing and amount of estimated future production, cost of production, capital expenditures, future metal prices and the cost and timing of the development of new projects. For a complete discussion of the risks uncertainties and factors which may lead to actual financial results and performance being different from the estimates contained in the forward-looking statements.

Please refer to Allied Gold's press release issued yesterday, announcing first-quarter 2024 results as well as management's discussion and analysis for the same period and other regulatory filings in Canada. I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded and will be available for replay later on today.

Replay information and the presentation slides accompanying this conference call and webcast are available on Allied Gold's website at alliedgold.com. I will now turn the call over to Peter Marrone, Chairman and CEO. Please go ahead Mr. Marrone?

Operator. Thank you very much. So let's dig right in. We have a portfolio of mines which we said would be subjected to optimization initiatives and the improvements would begin in 2024 and we would show sequential quarter over quarter improvements.

These key operational initiatives were advanced in this last quarter and they support a planned production and cost improvements which we expect to show meaningfully, particularly in the second half of the year. Production during the quarter was just over 8% higher than the comparative period where we produced 78,000 ounces, by comparison to our over 85,000 ounces in for the first quarter of this year.

And that 85,000 ounces is consistent with guidance sequencing expectations and positions us very well for the expectations for the year. As Basie, will speak to Sadiola was a main focus with a standout masterclass performance cost of sales, cash costs and all in sustaining costs on a per ounce sold decreased since the fourth quarter.

And we won't emphasize that when we report our costs, we report on a per ounce sold not per ounce produced. And despite the fact that the number of ounces sold in this most recently completed quarter was lower than the fourth quarter.

We still delivered all in sustaining costs, cash costs and cost of sales. Brown sold that were lower than in the fourth quarter, operational cash flows improved significantly with over $38 million being generated.

And we have to again emphasize that the costs are better and revenue per ounce is better than in prior quarters. And in the first quarter, cash flow was generated at an average realized gold price of $2,053 per ounce. And spot prices have are now significantly exceeding this realized price with over $300 better in terms of spot price.

And it appears as if the gold price will continue to trend higher. In order to be prudent. We entered into zero costs gold calls for approximately 30% of our production, roughly 10,000 ounces per month from May to March of next year. A total of 110,000 ounces.

And what we have done with that is that we have secured a floor of $2,200 per ounce on that production and that is well above our budgeted expectations for gold price. And we also have all of the upside to about $2,800 per ounce.

So we protect ourselves on the downside and we have significant exposure to the upside. We emphasize that this was a should have not a must have our operational and financial position is strong, but we think it's prudent to mitigate price risks.

And in this case, we have almost complete upside with significant downside protection moving on to how we create sustainability and improvements in our operations. And that was the point of the first quarter. We prefer beginning with contract mining and owner mining. We prefer owner mining, recognizing that it takes time for training and it requires capital to be in an owner mining situation.

Ultimately, that is the objective. But in the meantime, we have been taking steps to better integrate mine contracting efforts into our performance drivers. We transitioned mining operations at Agbaou to a unified contractor.

We've said we're treating the Côte d'Ivoire assets given their proximity, given that we have an access road between Agbaou and Bonikro as a complex and with a unified contractor, this assists us in delivering operational synergies in future quarters. We're not finished with this program. We expect to continue to integrate mine contracting efforts into our performance drivers.

And that will also allow us to be able to determine how we deal with mine contractors at our Kurmuk project. And what we do with further optimizations and improvements at our existing mines, processing improvements and mine sequencing of brow were an important part of what we were doing in the quarter.

We completed these processing enhancements in the first quarter. It did require a plant shutdown. We went through that process and we are now in an excellent position to be able to deliver better production at brow over the course of the next three quarters for this year and into 2025 and 2026.

And in terms of Agbaou and again, as Basie will speak to, it's expected to be second half of the year weighted with a 40%, 60% production profile reflecting an anticipated improvement of operations. After the transition to this new mine contractor which we completed in the first quarter, we had a strong performance of Sadiola and we significantly increased production with over 48,000 ounces and all in sustaining costs that were more than $300 per ounce better than in 2023.

We made an advanced new oxide discoveries. We previously reported that in an announcement relating to our exploration efforts that was at the mine and that will provide further oxide feed at the existing plant and the future plant for longer.

We're integrating the high grade ore from Diba to boost 2024 production. This will represent a significant component of Sadiola output for the year and into 2025 and a part of 2026 supplemented by these new oxide discoveries that we've made at the mine itself.

We've progressed Kurmuk, we spent on budget of $11 million. We're on track for the year. We've completed the EPCM [team] mobilization. We're advancing engineering and formal procurement. We're defining project procedures, logistics.

We're advanced in our discussions relating to a power purchase agreement, the importance of power at that mine with the very low cost in Ethiopia. So all in all then we're advancing Kurmuk and we'll see some significant improvements occur over the course of the next several quarters.

And the results to conclude for the first quarter are in line with our guidance for production and costs. We do expect sequential increases in production in the second and third quarter with production in the fourth quarter, consistent with the third and while Agbaou stands at about [40 to 60] split in terms of production, second half weighted the first half.

We expect overall to be at a range of about 45% for the first half and 55% for the second half. All for the reasons given and very significantly to recap the improvements of Bonikro that were made to the plant, the effort that we've undertaken at Agbaou to integrate mine contractor management and the significant production expectations that come from Diba as Sadiola.

And with that, let me pass it to Basie our Chief Operations Officer for more detail on the operations.

Thank you, Peter. Good morning to everyone. During the quarter, the company produced 85,177 ounces and sold 85,136 ounces. The cost pay unsold stood at $1,614 for sales, $1,397 for cash cost and $1,562 for all in sustaining cost.

Looking at the quarterly operating results by mind, had a strong quarter and fully met expectations with production of 48,330 ounces compared to 48,533 ounces in a comparative prior year period, representing an increase of 19%.

The initiatives undertaken at the end of the fourth quarter, predominantly focus on crushing and screening initiatives continued throughout the first quarter and was successfully maintained and operated. The results were also positively impacted by the higher feed grade.

Diba continues to progress on plan and is expected to deliver its first production later in the second quarter, our cost per unsold stood at $1,263 for sales, $1,172 for cash costs and $124 for all in sustaining.

Moving to Bonikro, production was 18,631 ounces following a detailed operational assessment which was conducted at the end of last year, certain operational improvements and process adjustments were identified and planned for 2024.

A short stoppage on the processing plant was carried out during the first quarter allowing the company to undertake in certain areas of the flow sheet. Some improvements as well as to improve management matters on the mine.

The plant throughput variability reduced significantly after these improvements and processing performance has now fully stabilized. Despite the processing impact during the quarter, consistent positive mining performance has ensured mining activities remain on plan at a production came in 18,216 ounces.

The first quarter performance was strong. Despite the transition to a new mining contractor which is now complete, the oxide feed length ratio at the [act] plant was enhanced by continuous production from Agbaou, which has consistently met great expectations and provided significant flexibility during the first quarter.

At Agbaou expected, cost reductions are to be achieved mainly through the increase of production in subsequent quarters. And after a contracted change over as well as mining and processing optimizations With that, I will pass over to Jason, our Chief Financial Officer to discuss our financials.

Thank you, Basie and good morning everyone. The company's primary focus which is well underway is to transition from accumulating a portfolio of high quality high potential assets to stabilizing and optimizing operations.

As a result of this transformation, we incurred expenses and cash flow impacts stemming from the business combination and the ongoing transformation resulting in some earnings and cash flow volatility particularly in changes to working capital as previously accrued items are paid.

For the quarter. We generated revenue of $175.1 million and gross profit excluding depreciation of $51.8 million. The attributable net loss for the quarter was $5.7 million. However, after adjusting for non-recurring items adjusted net earnings for the quarter were about $1 million.

Net cash generated from operating activities was negative $7.9 million. Mainly due to working capital outflows related to year end accruals. These outflows do not reflect the underlying efficiency of our mining operations or the company's cash generation capacity.

Before these items, net cash from operating activities was a strong inflow of $38 million. At year end, the company's cash and cash equivalents stood at $125.4 million. After spending $26.2 million in Q1 on exploration, sustaining capital and development plans.

Despite near term volatility, our growth path is expected to significantly increase earnings and cash flow starting this year. Cash flows from operating activities are expected to significantly increase throughout the remainder of the year with increased production contributions and lower cost driving sequential improvements.

Annual production is expected to be distributed 45% in H1 and 55% in H2. Expenses are expected to continue trending downward over the remainder of the year with quarter over quarter savings and improvements anticipated particularly in the second half of the year.

Given the current gold price, the company anticipates being fully financed through existing cash flows and cash on hand. However, to reduce dependence on the gold price Allied is proactively pursuing several nondilutive treasury options including streams on producing assets and a gold prepay.

We are in final discussions to implement a stream for about $50 million on our coast of assets, the proceeds which are expected to result in a negligible cost of capital based on proven and probable reserves and remain competitive.

When assuming mineral resource conversion will bolster and ensure self funding for the company's extensive exploration and optimization program in Côte d'Ivoire, where $16.5 million is allocated this year to advance highly prospective targets such as and Bali among other targets.

The stream proceeds will enable strategic enhancements distinct from the current life of mine plans and designed to increase asset value and unlock upside that would otherwise not be readily funded in the short term. As the company pursues the advancement of Kurmuk and Sadiola projects.

With that, I'll hand the call over to our President Daniel Racine.

Thank you, Jason and good morning everyone. Our ability to generate increased cash flows and profits is supported by our 2024 guidance. As previously disclosed, production is expected to be weighted to the second half of the year with quarter over quarter variances due to the mine sequencing and accessing higher grades as per the mining plan.

Along with the implementation of operational improvements, production is expected to sequentially increase in the second and third quarters with production in the fourth quarter. Consistent with the third quarter, all of which aligned with high life guidance of between 375,000 ounces to 405,000 ounces for 2024 at an all in sustaining cost of $1,400 per ounce.

For the year, production is expected to be weighted 45% for the first half and 55% for the second half. In terms of investment, we plan to allocate [32 million] to exploration activities and another [29.5 million] to sustaining capital expenditures, not including prestripping of [25 million] which is accounted for in all in sustaining costs.

We've also earned [$198.5 million] for expansionary capital expenditure primarily for current development. Constant improvement are expected to come from better performance at Sadiola and with Bonikro entering at a strip phase to access higher grade ore during the asset period.

Expansionary capital is being directed towards advancing the kernel project which is expected to result in a significant increase in production and profitability starting in 2026 spending on exploration is focused on strategic objectives namely increasing oxide ore inventory particularly at Sadiola, extending mine life in Côte d'Ivoire and expanding mineral inventory at Kurmuk.

With our success in exploration and increasing reserve. Our outlook for 2025 and 2026 shows substantial growth at much lower costs. We anticipate year over year increase in gold production during the outlook period targeting 230,000 answers annually.

This expected increase is driven by the incorporation of additional oxide ore from Diba and promising targets such as FE4 and [S12] which will complement the phase one expansion. For 2025, we expect that the audience sustaining cost to remain between $1,150 to and $1,250 per ounce.

Although there might be a modest increase in 2026 we're looking to maintain it below [$350] currencies. Most of it is accounted for the preparation of the second phase expansion later that year with the availability of oxide from Diba other target phase one is execution is now targeted to start in late 2024 with production commencing in early 2026.

In the near term, Bonikro is on track for modest annual increases in gold production aiming to surpass 110,000 ounces. The 2024 stripping phase is set to reveal higher grade material significantly reducing all in sustaining costs below 1,050 ounces. By the end of the outlook period, the full potential of (inaudible) including advanced resource drilling at West and North along with the (inaudible).

So target could lead to additional gains. Attack ball consistent annual gold production is expected with a floor of 90,000 ounces. Identify additional mineral reserve in [bali] and operational enhancement are driving improvements with the mill effectively processing other rock plan and increasing oxide feed.

Significant investments are being made to progress. The thermal project which we anticipate will begin production by mid 2026 contributing over 175,000 ounces of gold in the latter half of that year, we are investing significantly in the project and also continuing to explore the significant exploration upside at new targets around Dish Mountain and Ashashire.

In addition to the Kurmuk project to support the strategic mine life of at least 15 years, with an all in sustaining cost below $950 per ounce. With that establishment of highlight project management framework, the appointment of an APCM contractor, the initiation of detail, engineering and early works and the procurement of critical project service and infrastructure along with strengthening relationship and engaging with local stakeholders.

We are on track to deliver the project on time and on budget. Putting this all together Allied expect significant near term improvement in production and costs through ongoing optimization and exploration and with the ramp up of Kurmuk in 2026 and reaching production level above 600,000 ounces at an all in sustaining cost below [12] 1,225 per ounces for 2026.

In the long term, the Sadiola phase two expansion completes its transition to a world class mine and bring our total production to approximately 800,000 ounces at a targeted all in sustaining cost below $1,000 per ounce.

I'd like to end the call to our Chief Sustainability Officer, Gwennael Guillen.

Thank you, Daniel. Good morning, everyone. All of this is grounded in our ongoing commitment to sustainability and the communities where we operate, the company did not report any significant environmental incidents for the three months ending March 31, 2024. And we remain focused on ensuring the health and safety of our employees.

We plan to release a formal sustainability report in June and we are developing and implementing a sustainability framework based on key principles like risk and opportunity management integration and the dedication to evolving international best practices, standards, external reporting and assessment. I'll pass the call back to Daniel to discuss upcoming milestones.

Thank you, Gwennael. As we continue to deliver on our operating plan and achieve consistently higher production throughout the rest of the year. We'll share updates on several key milestone. For instance, we're currently exploring Bonikro where we're drilling and updating the resource model at this should establish a solid 10-year mine life based on a formal mine plan, transitioning our strategic goal into a concrete plan.

We're also building on successful exploration at Kurmuk with exploration result expected from Dish Mountain, especially at Black Dog Hill and Discovery Hill. We report Q2 operational result on August 8, and we will continue to provide updates on incorporating Diba and other oxide ore sources at Sadiola construction progress at Kurmuk and our financial fixity plan. With that, I'll hand it over the call to Peter.

So gentlemen and ladies, let me conclude with two perhaps three observations we will provide as Daniel mentioned, another exploration update primarily for Kurmuk, Dish Mountain is one of the two initial open pits. It is showing an extension.

We expect more ounces and it will be a new contributor or a continuing contributor. Perhaps to our goal of over 5 million ounces at at Kurmuk. (inaudible) is planned likely to extend mine life at Bonikro. And so with our exploration successes, we think it's important to highlight the direction that's taking before we deliver a resource estimate over the course of time.

Oxides oxides oxides at Sadiola to process through the current plant and the new plant by 2029, we have a very large inventory of proven and probable reserves in fresh ore. But our objective has been for the short term and intermediate term to increase our inventory of oxide ounces Diba is a contributor to that. But we have discoveries in the main Sadiola tenements that assist us in that regard.

Jason touched on the potential stream in the Côte d'Ivoire. We did not plan to fund improvements to the plant and we have a large budget. This is at Agbaou and we have a large budget for exploration because of the successes that we're seeing the opportunity that is there. It's not part of our budget or our guidance, but we think it is prudent to advance these efforts.

And a stream that is at very, very low cost of capital, certainly on the basis of proven and probable reserve will allow us the opportunity to do that. And let me conclude by saying again, we have short-term, intermediate term and longterm goals or longer-term goals.

Short-term more oxide feed coming to Sadiola and increasing the number of ounces in inventory at Bonikro or Côte d'Ivoire complex. And continuing to advance intermediate term, really punctuate the importance of production improvements, cost improvements, operational initiatives and then ultimately bringing Kurmuk into production with an initial production profile of 175,000 ounces in 2026.

But to remember that the production profile is closer to 300,000 ounces between [250] and 290,000 ounces. Life of mine at that asset. And the longer term of course is to complete the expansion. We're in a phased expansion at Sadiola and to finalize that transition to what we think will become a world-class mine with close to 400,000 ounces of production and all in sustaining costs below $1,000 per ounce.

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, let's open up the call to questions.

Thank you. We'll now take questions from the telephone lines.

(Operator Instructions) Don Demarco, National Bank Financial.

Thank you. Thank you operator and good morning Peter and team. Congratulations on a strong quarter at Sadiola and I see [Asic] guidance. So of course, it implies that costs are going to be lower as you execute on a back end loaded year. I was just wondering does the Sadiola asic guidance 1,150 announce, does it include contributions from Diba?

Yes, it does.

Okay. Well, I see that you're into Diba now in Q2. And is, can you give us any more color on how much contribution from Diba you might see at the middle and Q2?

Well, we said in our disclosure that it would be a significant contributor, we haven't given a number, but that number is, is expected to be a large one of roughly 200,000 ounces of production. It should not come as a surprise that somewhere in the range of 40% will come from Diba.

However, we want to emphasize again that we're making these discoveries. As Daniel mentioned at the Sekekoto and S12, we're advancing those discoveries, those could be brought into production comparatively quickly.

So while the current mine plan contemplates about 40% of our production coming from Diba, we'll look to see whether or not we can supplement that with some of the ore that comes from the existing tenements as I mentioned.

Okay, thank you. Just shifting over to expansion CapEx then just company wide, it's below maybe an expected quarterly pace one would expect for guidance. Is there any reason for this? And have you seen spending at Kurmuk pick up so far in Q2?

Well, I can pass this to to Jason for further comment on, but it is consistent with our budget, so we didn't underspend or overspend in our budget for the quarter. So it's a very typical ramp up the best way that I can describe it.

And you've seen this before in in development stage, assets is the worst thing that could happen is to rush into the development. The best thing that could happen is to plan and plan and plan and plan and make sure that we've got the plans down, right?

Make sure that we've got the logistics right, the infrastructure, the support and so the result of all import and export, making sure that all of that is in place. So the result of all of that is that we expected that that rampup would occur throughout the year, but the first quarter would be lighter than the balance of the year.

Okay. Thank you. (multiple speaker)

Yeah, and that's the final question. It's just a question on [Maui]. Then the the 2023 mining code has been topical for some other companies. Is there any expiration or other assets at Sadiola that might fall under that 2023 mining code?

Everything that we have in the company is under a convention that was entered into in 2020 an amendment to the convention and that convention extends for the next couple of decades. And so we do not see that we are subject to the 2023 law.

But what we said in our disclosure is important. We recognize the importance of being cooperative and recognize the importance of communication with the the host nations. The host nation is looking to improve the split of economics between the owner and the state.

We're having discussions. They recognize that we have a convention and we recognize some of the economic issues that the state is facing and how we need to find a way to deal with it. That's the best way that I can describe it at this point. It is a discussion, but there's nothing that is in our tenements. There's nothing that is in our exploration efforts that would be outside of the convention.

Okay, Peter. Thank you for that. That's all for me and good luck executing on a back end loaded year. Thank you.

Thank you.

Ingrid Rico, Stifel.

Yeah, good morning. Peter and team, congratulations on the exploration success that you guys are having at the operations. And you know, the updates on the initiatives that are happening at all the sites. I have two questions. I'll start with Diba if you could maybe elaborate a little bit more on the ore control drilling, what have you been seeing and what can we expect on that grade this year?

Basie?

We at the moment, we're busy with a lot of infill dwelling at the moment at Diba. The results are coming out and it's being modeled at the moment. The results are very close to what the initial exploration results are coming out and the grade is higher than what we're currently treating at Sadiola. And we expect something in an overall to range [1.5 to 1.8] grams per tonne going forward with Diba

And part of an infill drilling, there had been historical artisanal minor activity at Diba. So we included a dilution factor that with the infill drilling is demonstrating that we were being overly conservative in that dilution factor. So the result of that is we may actually have more ounces Diba than we anticipated.

That's good to hear. And just keeping with Diba, what are the the remaining critical items that you have to complete to get to that production at the end of this quarter.

At the moment, we're busy mobilizing mining equipment to site. The initial phases of preparing the site fencing of having our offices there, diesel browsers, all of the basic operational stuff together. But going again, that's about 20 kilometers away from the existing infrastructure that is all in place now.

So as of next week, we're going to start moving mining equipment and we expect towards the end of this month to start with pre stripping and going in full mining phase in the following month

And Ingrid we have outside of operations, we've made commitments on community matters. So we are now in that discussion again, it is going well. And part of that discussion is how do we provide employment particularly to some of the youth in the local communities.

So that is advancing very well as well. But that is one of the important factors for us before we're finally mining there in the end of this quarter.

And I think just something I've got, it's important to mention is that the whole road between Diba and the mine site is they are like 95% complete. There's one or two sections where we just have to make it a little bit safer and wider and we're busy putting spotters in place on that road when we start rolling.

Great. Okay. Moving on to maybe the d'Ivoire coast. I was reading in the [MDNA] that the country is having some power generation issues or some issues with the power generation plant. What are the things that you guys are doing to have sort of reliable power and not affecting the operations in the coming quarters.

So this has happened before in Côte d'Ivoire and interestingly in the private company, this is before this management's involvement in the private company. There had been a recommendation early last year, late 2022 for backup power. We've initiated that program we're now deeply involved in bringing generators to the two operations so that we can provide that backup so that we are self reliant.

And that's the important point here. It is not just about power though, in the company, we've initiated an entire program of self reliance, but in the case of Côte d'Ivoire, it is about power. And so we want to make sure that we've got that consistency and we've now mobilized on those generators as a short-term implementation.

In terms of the intermediate term, we're now deep into discussions on solar and that's something that is encouraged by the state and it's something that we think should be pursued and we're pursuing it.

When do you think like, are you intending to do some studies ahead of making a decision on the, the solar plant or is that something that would move to the execution pretty quickly?

Well, we're at the discussion phase with providers at this point they're advancing. Well, I would expect that over the course of this year, we would be in a better position to be able to say what we can do on that. But most importantly, we do have power. There is a power that is generated off of the grid.

We're doing this because we think it is prudent to do. I said at the beginning in grid that it's about risk mitigation and allowing us to take advantage of opportunities. So if there is a risk of inconsistent power in any jurisdiction that applies to Toronto, it applies to any place in the world, then we should have backup.

And so we think it is prudent to take advantage of what was a recommendation made last year to the private company. We're taking advantage of that opportunity. We're already well advanced, we're already mobilizing on that.

So I think the important thing is the generators are the first step solar I think is a longer term solution. But we're at the -- we're beyond the investigative phase. At this point we are in discussions with providers and we're looking at studies to be completed over the course of this year.

Great. And my last question, Basie, if you can remind us any other flight plan shutdowns that we should be expecting in Q2.

No, what we've done actually with the power is when we were asked to stop operations every now and again, from the -- we had very good cooperation from the supply entity, they would give us advanced warning of power outages and we did a lot of maintenance during that period so that when we go back on full power, we would get the benefits of that opportunity maintenance which we've already executed on.

Perfect. Thank you.

(Operator Instructions)

Anita Soni, CIBC Capital Markets.

Hi, Peter and Team. I just want to ask a quick question on the financials. So I think I just want to get an idea of the the run rates for the year on things like depreciation interest and [G&A] or is, is Q1 typical or how will those three things evolve over the course of the year?

I mean, it's pretty, pretty typical. Okay, maybe a little bit of variability just with unit production. But --

Okay. And then on the tax is the same thing, the same question.

Yeah, we little bit lower than the initial plan I would say in Q1. So I think we guided [$60 million]. I it's a little bit higher in Q2 and then the balance over Q3, Q4. But pretty even

A similar question on the cadence of capital standard with the course of the year.

Capital is a little bit different. Anita, as you said, you know, we scaled that scales up primarily on Kurmuk you know, heavy planning on the front end. So it literally scales by a quarter in terms of, of spend, you know, the sustaining the other operations were modest, but it's really driven by the profile at Kurmuk. So yeah, we fully expect to spend our budget for the year.

Okay, thanks. And I noticed you have disclosure about each, by each asset for production waiting. So I appreciate that And I think you asked my other questions, so I'll leave it there.

Thank you, Anita.

Thank you. There are no further questions registered at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to Mr. Marrone.

So ladies and gentlemen and somewhat uneventful quarter, we delivered on production expectations on cost expectations. The trend is showing favorably. We expect that to continue for the year and we expect just as importantly in the intermediate term to continue to advance Kurmuk.

And to demonstrate by the end of the year that we are on track for that production expectation in 2026 for 175,000 ounces in the longer term of course, for the full year of between 250 and 190,000 ounces per year. So with that, let's, we'll conclude our call and we'll look forward to seeing you at our shareholder meeting later this morning.

Thank you. The conference has now ended, please disconnect your lines at this time and we thank you for your participation.