Operator

Hello, and welcome to the Usio’s Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call.

[Operator Instructions]

Please note, today’s event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Paul Manley. Please go ahead, sir.

Paul Manley
Senior Vice President of Investor Relations

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and welcome to Usio’s Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2025 Conference Call. The earnings release, which we issued today after the market close, is available on our website at usio.com under the Investor Relations tab. On this call with me today are Louis Hoch, our Chairman and CEO; and Greg Carter, Executive Vice President of Payment Acceptance and our Chief Revenue Officer; Michael White, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer; and Jerry Uffner, Head of Card Issuing, will also be available during the question-and-answer session.

Let me remind our listeners that certain statements made today during the call constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities and Litigation Act of 1995 as amended and as more fully discussed in our press release and in our filings with the SEC.

So let me start off today’s call with some highlights from this afternoon’s release. It was a solid quarter, in line with our

Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDIL), an arm of state-owned Coal India, on Wednesday said it has mobilised Rs 470 crore from anchor investors, ahead of its initial share-sale opening for public subscription.

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Nippon India Mutual Fund (MF), Edelweiss MF, ICICI Prudential MF, Baring Private Equity India Fund, General Insurance Corporation of India and Edelweiss Life Insurance Corporation are among the anchor investors, according to a circular uploaded on BSE’s website.

Also, Societe Generale, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas Financial Markets participated in the anchor round.

As per the circular, the state-owned firm allotted 2.73 crore equity shares to 22 funds at Rs 172 per piece, aggregating the transaction size to Rs 469.74 crore.

Of these funds, LIC has been allocated shares to the tune of Rs 105 crore.

CMPDIL’s Rs 1,842-crore initial public offering (IPO) will open for subscription on March 20 and conclude on March 24.
The price band has been fixed at Rs 163 to Rs 172 per share, valuing the company at around Rs 12,280 crore at the higher end, the company announced.The issue will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS) of 10.71 crore shares, worth Rs 1,842.12 crore at the upper end, by Coal India, with no fresh issue component.

CMPDIL was incorporated in 1975 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coal India.

It offers consultancy and support services for the entire spectrum of coal and mineral exploration, as well as mine planning and design services.

Its services also include infrastructure engineering, environmental management, geomatics, specialized technology services, and management systems, primarily for the coal industry and other minerals.

Its revenue from operations was Rs 2,103 crore and net profit at Rs 667 crore during FY25. The company said that half of the issue size has been reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 35 per cent for retail investors and the remaining 15 per cent for non-institutional buyers.

The state-owned firm will make its stock market debut on March 30.

IDBI Capital Markets and Securities and SBI Capital Markets are the book-running lead managers for the public issue.

Earlier, Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL), another subsidiary of Coal India, came out with its Rs 1,071-crore IPO in January.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 342 points, or 0.7%. The S&P 500 was up 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.6%. For a second day in a row, breadth was stellar.

All 11 major S&P 500 sectors were rising for a second day in a row. If the gains hold, it would be the first stretch of consecutive gains for all the sectors together since Sept. 13, 2024, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The last time all 11 sectors moved together for two consecutive days was a two-day stretch of declines that ended Dec. 30, 2024.

Unilever shares fell 3.5% on Wednesday with investors concerned that the maker of Hellmann’s sauces would get “distracted” by the potential spin-off of its food business, questioning the benefits so soon after its protracted ice cream unit split. Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that Unilever is in the early stages of weighing a separation ‌of its food ⁠assets, citing people ⁠familiar with the matter. The news comes just months after Unilever separated from its ice cream brands, which listed as The Magnum Ice Cream Company in December, nearly two years after the spin-off was first announced.

“(CEO Fernando Fernandez) needs another year under his belt before he looks at splitting off food; geopolitical issues consumers are facing also need to calm down,” Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman said. Fernandez took the helm at Unilever just over a year ago after the ouster of his predecessor, Hein Schumacher. Sources told Reuters at the ⁠time that ‌the board hoped Fernandez would quickly streamline Unilever’s sprawling portfolio.

Shares of rival consumer firms, including Reckitt and Nestle, also fell on Wednesday.

Unilever declined to comment.

Unilever’s food business, which also makes ⁠Knorr bouillon cubes and Marmite spreads, reported an operating profit of 2.9 billion euros ($3.34 billion) last year. Barclays values the food business at as much as 10 times EBITDA, or roughly 30 billion euros.

“Demerging food is not straightforward as there are significant tax costs and lower economies of scale in emerging markets,” W1M portfolio manager Tineke Frikkee said. “There is also then the risk Unilever may buy something to replace sales or profits and the debate around over-the-counter healthcare may resurface.”
That said, investors have for years pushed for the company to sell its low-growth food business, where underlying ‌sales rose only 2.5% last year and weighed on business growth. In comparison, Unilever’s beauty and wellbeing unit that makes Dove soap and Vaseline moisturisers grew underlying sales by 4.3%. The food business, though higher-margin than the beauty and ⁠wellbeing business, does not meet Unilever’s short-term goal to grow underlying sales by 4-6% each year. Billionaire activist shareholder Nelson Peltz was revealed to have a stake in Unilever in 2022, and the subsequent restructuring that ripped through the company has prompted the departure of two CEOs and the sale of several smaller food brands like The Vegetarian Butcher, as well as the ice-cream spin-off.

“This is a time of GLP-1, anti-packaged food – the U.S. food industry has been anaemic for years,” Ackerman said, adding that household and personal goods brands also fare better because companies can more easily argue their increasingly expensive products are scientifically better than cheaper private label alternatives.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that it was “too soon” to assess the economic consequences of the ongoing war in Iran.

“The implications of events in the Middle East for the U.S. economy are uncertain. In the near term, higher energy prices will push up overall inflation, but it is too soon to know the scope and duration of the potential effects on the economy. We will continue to monitor the risks to both sides of our mandate,” Powell said.

He said the broader economic fallout remains uncertain, though rising energy costs are likely to lift inflation in the near term.

“The U.S. economy is doing pretty well. It’s just we don’t know what the effects of this will be. And really, no one does,” Powell said.

TRUMP DEMANDS POWELL CUT RATES AS IRAN CONFLICT DRIVES UP ENERGY PRICES

Powell’s comments came as tit-for-tat strikes in Iran and across the Middle East helped push crude above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022, rattling global markets and renewing concerns about tighter energy supplies.

That pressure is beginning to reach consumers. As oil prices climb, gasoline and diesel prices are also rising — especially diesel, which often moves faster because of its close ties to freight and industrial demand.

GAS PRICES SURGE, PINCHING AMERICANS AND HANDING THE GOP A NEW MIDTERM HEADACHE

Fed policymakers voted to leave the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The decision followed the central bank’s move in January to hold rates steady after three successive quarter-point cuts in September, October and December.

Economic data showing a slowdown in the labor market, inflation still running above the Fed’s 2% target and unrest involving Iran all helped keep policymakers on hold.

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The Federal Open Market Committee voted 11-1 to leave rates unchanged, with Fed Governor Stephen Miran dissenting in favor of a 25-basis-point cut.

For President Donald Trump, the timing is politically difficult.

He campaigned on lowering costs for Americans, but the conflict involving Iran now threatens to do the opposite — driving up energy prices and putting fresh pressure on one of his core economic promises.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, remains missing more than six weeks after authorities say she was taken against her will from her home in the Catalina Foothills outside Tucson in the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 2026.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has described the case as an abduction, citing evidence that the longtime Tucson resident — who lived alone, relied on daily heart medications and had a pacemaker — did not leave voluntarily. Her purse, phone, wallet and vehicle were left behind inside the residence, along with droplets of blood confirmed to be hers near the front entrance and porch. No signs of a major struggle were reported.

Guthrie was last seen by family on the evening of Jan. 31. She took an Uber to daughter Annie Cioni’s nearby home around 5:32 p.m. for dinner and games, then was dropped off by her son-in-law shortly before 10 p.m. She entered through the garage, which closed behind her. A narrow 41-minute window in the predawn hours is believed to be when she vanished, roughly four hours after returning home. She failed to appear for a virtual church service the next morning, prompting family and friends to report her missing that afternoon.

Investigators recovered doorbell camera footage and additional still images from Nest and other security devices at the property. The material shows a masked male suspect — wearing a balaclava, dark clothing, gloves and carrying a backpack — approaching the front door on the night of the disappearance. In one sequence, the individual appears to tamper with the camera. Authorities have described him as the prime person of interest and released the images publicly, urging anyone with information to come forward. A neighbor later reported seeing an unidentified man casing the area weeks earlier who “didn’t fit in the community.”

The high-profile case, fueled by Savannah Guthrie’s national visibility as co-host of the “Today” show, has drawn intense media attention and more than 3,000 tips to law enforcement. The FBI joined the investigation early, establishing a dedicated task force and offering rewards that now total up to $1 million from the family — payable for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s safe recovery or the arrest and conviction of those responsible — alongside federal contributions.

Multiple purported ransom notes surfaced in the days after the disappearance, including emails to local media outlets demanding large sums, some referencing Bitcoin or tight deadlines. At least one led to a federal arrest, though authorities have not publicly linked any suspect directly to the abduction or confirmed the notes’ authenticity in every instance. Speculation about motives — from a targeted home invasion to possible elder-related exploitation — has circulated, but officials have released limited details to protect the active probe.

Searches have been extensive. Hundreds of law enforcement personnel, including FBI agents, have combed the rugged desert terrain around Tucson and beyond. Technology such as BlueFly signal detection was reportedly used in efforts to locate signals from Guthrie’s pacemaker. Specific cell-tower coordinates in neighboring counties prompted ground searches for possible remains, though none linked to Guthrie were found. Unverified reports of bodies discovered elsewhere, including in canals or ponds, were quickly ruled out as unrelated.

As the search entered its seventh week in mid-March 2026, the FBI noted that the volume of tips to its dedicated line had tapered after an initial surge, a common pattern in prolonged missing-persons investigations. However, a full-time task force remains operational, and officials emphasize that the case is far from cold. Retired FBI agents familiar with the probe have called it “red hot” with ongoing actionable leads, forensic analysis of blood patterns, digital evidence and neighborhood canvassing that recently expanded to review surveillance from as early as Jan. 24 — about a week before the disappearance.

Pima County Sheriff Nanos has faced public criticism and a recall effort over the pace of the investigation and perceived transparency issues, including the timing of evidence releases. He has vowed to abide by the outcome of any recall while defending the multi-agency effort and stating the home was likely targeted. Construction or utility workers who had been at the property prior to the incident were questioned and cleared in some reports. The sheriff has repeatedly said the family — including Savannah, Annie and son Camron Guthrie — has been fully cooperative and ruled out as suspects.

Savannah Guthrie has made emotional public appeals, including video messages posted to social media pleading for her mother’s return and offering the substantial reward. In one, she said, “Someone knows how to find our mom and bring her home.” She briefly returned to the “Today” show set in early March after weeks away. The family has described Nancy Guthrie as a devoted mother and grandmother who was active in her church community despite mobility limitations.

Experts have noted the case’s rarity. Abductions of women in their 80s represent a tiny fraction of kidnapping statistics, making the circumstances particularly puzzling. The combination of an elderly victim, apparent home invasion in an affluent, secluded area, blood evidence, camera tampering and ransom demands has set it apart from typical missing-persons reports and amplified national interest.

Nancy Guthrie, née Long, was widowed since the death of her husband Charles in 1988. She had three children and lived independently in the Catalina Foothills, a suburban enclave north of Tucson known for its desert views and privacy. Her health required consistent medication, raising urgent concerns among investigators that time is critical.

As of March 18, 2026, her whereabouts and condition remain unknown. Law enforcement continues to process forensic evidence, analyze newly recovered camera images from the neighborhood and property, and pursue leads door-to-door. Officials stress that anyone with information — even seemingly minor details about suspicious activity in the weeks before Feb. 1 — should contact authorities immediately.

The FBI tip line is 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Tips can also be submitted online or to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900. Anonymous reports are accepted via 88-CRIME (520-882-7463). The family has encouraged digital media such as doorbell or dashcam footage from the area.

The investigation remains active, with no arrests announced in connection with the abduction itself. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the suspect could strike again and continue to ask the public for help solving what Sheriff Nanos has called a targeted crime that has upended a family and captivated the nation.

(Word count: approximately 1,050. This article incorporates the most recent publicly reported developments as of mid-March 2026, including expanded camera reviews, ongoing tip analysis, reward offers and the status of the multi-agency probe.)