World Kinect Corporation CEO Michael Kasbar talks about the company's new name and ticker symbol

Thanks, Judy. We're really excited to be here. We've been listed on the NYSE since 1986, and it's great to be here on the big board. It's an exciting day for me, it's an exciting day for the company. So World Kinect is really a story of transformation. In 1995, we sold what was at the time the largest independent marine fuel services company to a company that was a used oil recycling company and small aviation reseller, and we had sales of $500 million in 1995. And last year we had sales of $59 billion. It was number 70 on the Fortune 500. So it's been an incredible story of growth over the years. And what we do is we're in between consumers of energy and producers of energy to the transportation, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors. And all of those customers' core competency is moving goods and products and people. So that's really what we do. We focus on energy, which is in some cases up to 30% of their operating cost, so they have to get it right. And we do that around the world. Ships and planes go everywhere. Manufacturers are using energy, and they need to get it right all the time. It's got to be on time, it's got to be the right quality, the right price, the right operational integration. So that's the role that we play, and it's been an important part of what we provide to our clients.

Well, we've changed the name to World Kinect because we've become a much more diversified energy company. So we're providing not only jet fuel to commercial airlines and business aircraft and deep-sea marine vessels, but land-based organizations, manufacturers. And we're providing sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, biodiesel, as well as software products, digital solutions to their operational integration to help those companies run better.

So, the energy diet is significantly more diverse today. No one would have guessed that solar energy would have been some of the least expensive forms of power today. So we provide a lot of on-site solar for various different companies. We'll do renewable energy strategy assessments to help people on their journey in terms of reducing their energy use and coming up with different strategies on how to be using renewable energy. So it's all of those types of products and services that we're providing clients today.

You know, the energy equation is important for everyone. So airlines, shipping companies, trucking companies, manufacturers, anyone that uses energy, and everybody does, has got the issue of affordability, decarbonization, availability, the operational integrity of it. So we're going to provide all of those solutions, and it's investing in those solutions, those digital solutions. When you look at what the core competencies are of our customers, it's really moving people, moving goods, making something. And the energy side is a little bit complicated. Just like politics, energy is local. So it's a little bit of a cliche, but we are local. We do business in 200 countries and territories. And it's sort of a complicated thing. We're not clipping coupons. So for all of our clients, they depend on us. We're a strategic partner for them to figure out how to get the energy equation right. So it's conventional, sustainable, digital. The energy diet is going to be diverse. There aren't any silver bullets. It's really going to be all of the above. And that's why World Kinect is such a great name for our company, because we're connecting so many different things. It's a heavy lift. Nobody could do it on their own. So we bring all the parties together, we participate in it, and create a better go-forward energy composition for our customers to engage with and improve their operations.

Thanks, Judy. It's great to be here.