The fact is we achieved solid overall operating results for our shareholders despite the difficult economic conditions in which no major global market has been spared. For the nine-month period ended December 31, 2008, we reported revenues of $1.32 billion, EBITDA of $124 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.09. We had a short nine-month transitional fiscal period as we shifted our year-end to close on December 31, 2008 instead of our historical March 31 year-end.

Our Residential Property Management and Property Services platforms exceeded our expectations, growing 9% and 35% respectively, over the prior year, even though we saw a reduction in certain, more discretionary services. In Property Services, overall results were particularly strong with our market-leading Field Asset Services and Paul Davis Restoration operations offsetting disappointing results in some of our more consumer-oriented service lines, such as California Closets. Providing property preservation and foreclosure services to banks and other mortgage servicers is an essential service in stabilizing the residential real estate market in the US, and we are pleased to have this counter-cyclical business as part of FirstService. On the other hand, Commercial Real Estate delivered results that were below our initial expectations because of the difficult commercial real estate and debt markets globally, and in particular, the severe downturn in the US.

Over the past few years, we have significantly diversified our revenue mix geographically. As we expanded globally, we reduced the percentage of revenue we generate from US operations, although the size of our US business continues to grow rapidly. The breakdown of our revenue streams in 2008 was 67% US, 13% Canada, 12% Asia Pacific, 7% Europe, and 1% Latin America. As the US economy recovers, we believe we are in an excellent position as we continue to build on our strong foundation.

2008 was a tough operating environment for commercial real estate generally. This was particularly true during the last quarter, when every region was affected by a synchronized global recession. On top of this, a crisis in financial markets and a severe curtailment of debt financing have resulted in investment sales gridlock and a significant slowdown in leasing and capital markets volumes. However, the slowdown has created important opportunities for us, such as our recent entry into the greater New York City market through FirstService Williams. FirstService Williams gives us a strong presence in the world's largest real estate market, and this opportunity might not have been available under normal market conditions.

We have always grown our business carefully, "one step at a time," but this transaction was clearly a more significant step. The FirstService Williams transaction creates a New York hub for our Commercial Real Estate division and firmly establishes our global platform in a top-tier real estate market. Many people do not realize that FirstService REA is already the world's fourth largest provider of commercial real estate services. Now we have opened an important global gateway for further expansion of our diversified portfolio of services, including commercial property management, corporate services, investment sales, capital markets, property valuation and project management operations.

We are always open-minded about the possibilities - it's one of our core values - so we are prepared to act decisively when opportunities present themselves. We are in an excellent position to capitalize on these opportunities, but we will not do so unless we are convinced an opportunity will add substantial value for our shareholders. In today's tough operating conditions, our track record for delivering solid earnings, a strong balance sheet and experienced management teams are powerful assets. We will leverage these assets to attract great new management teams who share our vision and who are committed to working with us to accelerate future growth.

We have a strong balance sheet with the financial capacity to pursue and complete important acquisitions - when they make sense. The acquisition of FirstService Williams was the highlight in 2008, but we also completed several other tuck-under transactions during the year including our new partnership with the Colliers International affiliate in Netherlands. We will continue to look for smaller tuck-under acquisitions in 2009, although we will move forward only if the opportunity is compelling and adds significant long-term value to our company.

We sold our Integrated Security business to intensify our focus on global real estate services. Security was a good business with a solid management team but we felt we had taken the business as far as we could. We were pleased to find the right buyer to take this business to the next level. The sale generated after-tax cash proceeds of more than $150 million, and a substantial gain and return on our investment, which augmented our already strong balance sheet and further positioned us to invest in growth and global expansion, where there are better long-term opportunities.

We are taking our lumps like everyone in this market, but we have a very resilient business model that continues to serve us well, especially in times like these. Operationally and geographically, our services are diversified, both within the US market itself and globally, and our revenue streams are more stable than most. About two-thirds of our EBITDA comes from property management fees and from franchise and royalty revenue streams generated primarily from essential services.

We do not think anyone expected such a sharp decline and the resulting erosion of confidence caused by the financial crisis. Beginning in the latter part of 2007, as we looked ahead to 2008, we expected a period of softer markets and prepared to meet them with a careful eye on a number of important aspects of our business. For example, in September 2007 we secured a new five-year credit facility as early signs emerged of weaker market conditions ahead, we continued to diversify our revenue streams by geography and service line, and then we added important counter-cyclical operations like Field Asset Services in October 2007 to our Property Services division. As 2008 unfolded, we took diligent steps to streamline expenses in every market, primarily in our Commercial Real Estate services division. We continue to manage our operations very closely and we will continue to adjust our cost structures to meet our expected revenue streams as we move further into 2009.

Due to several factors, including: 1) our strong cash flow from operations; 2) the sale of our security business; and 3) our five-year revolving credit facility maturing in September 2012, FirstService has a very strong balance sheet, with leverage at historically low levels and ample liquidity, with more than $200 million in available cash and undrawn credit lines to fund our growth.

Unfortunately, shareholders of FirstService were not spared in 2008 as global stock markets declined significantly. However, both common and preferred shareholders of FirstService did see less of a contraction in the value of their shares when compared to shareholders of other publically traded real estate companies. While we did not expect this significant a decline, it is an understandable reaction by investors, given the overall market sell-off and impact of the economic downturn. Fortunately, given our solid financial position, we do not anticipate having to raise additional equity capital in 2009.

As a global leader in real estate services we understand that buildings - both commercial and residential - account for a significant portion of the world's energy use and are a major contributor to global warming.

At FirstService we are committed to environmental sustainability and energy management through a three pronged knowledge-based approach: 1) educating our own leaders and employees; 2) "greening" our own operations, and 3) bringing enhanced knowledge and products to our customers to help them "green" their buildings and operations.

We currently have over 125 LEED Accredited Professionals throughout our operations, including many of our top executives and we expect to more than double this number in 2009. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the standard for sustainable buildings, both new and existing. We believe that driving knowledge leadership in this area will differentiate us from our competition and allow us to effectively implement "green" best practices in our operations and those of our clients.

Absolutely! Our goal is to be a global provider of diversified real estate services that delivers consistent growth in earnings and shareholder value. The market for our services - for residential and commercial services - is large and expanding as populations age and global markets mature. The economy is going through a very difficult period right now but over the long term there is no question that the trends in global real estate services are very positive. When you think about it, are there any other asset classes with the scale, value, and service requirements of real estate? We don't think so. And, despite the short-term impact of the current economic cycle, the long-term growth opportunity is very clear to FirstService and our management teams.

During 2008 we began re-engineering our brand architecture to better communicate FirstService as a progressive, knowledgeable and global leader in real estate services. We simply had to begin taking steps to organize and communicate our services to compete more effectively for national business and cross-border transactions. By providing this stronger connection to FirstService, we believe we will create more clarity for our clients and facilitate greater opportunities for new business.

We are proudest of the performance of our people in very difficult times and continue to be inspired by the hard work they are doing - it is proof of the enduring value of our principles as articulated in The FirstService Way. We have strong and committed operating management teams on the front lines and at head office with a long track record of success. In total, the managers own more than 20% of the economic value of FirstService. This gives them all the incentive they need to stay close to their operations, do the right things and add value every day. These are all critical, especially in times like these.

Due to existing market conditions that have created a lack of visibility, particularly in our Commercial Real Estate operations, we do not plan to provide an earnings outlook in 2009. This is consistent with our public company peer group. However, we will continue to communicate our views on key factors impacting our operations, and how we think this may affect our results.

We expect 2009 to continue to be difficult for commercial real estate and many of our consumer-oriented services franchise systems. However, this market weakness will also create benefits and opportunities that we can capitalize on. In Commercial Real Estate we will continue to strengthen and expand our FirstService brand through acquisition and new partnerships, while continuing to look for ways to diversify our services - by service line and geographically. In Residential Property Management we will continue to add units under management and take advantage of the market weakness to expand into new markets by leveraging the advantages we have as the industry leader in the US. In Property Services, while lower consumer confidence will continue to impact some of our franchise systems, we expect to continue to benefit from higher volumes in our foreclosure services business in 2009.