Camden National Corporation

Please remember to mute locally. Good day and welcome to Camden National Corporation's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. My name is Lucas and I will be your operator for today's call. All participants will be in a listen only mode during today's presentation. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If you require operator assistance at any time during the call, please press star, then zero. I will now turn the call over to Renee Smith, Executive Vice President, Chief Experience and Marketing Officer. Go ahead, Renee.

Welcome to Camden National Corporation's first quarter 2026 conference call. Joining us this afternoon are members of Camden National Corporation's Executive Team, Simon Griffiths, President and CEO, and Mike Garcher, Executive Vice President and CFO. Please note that today's presentation contains forward-looking statements and actual results could differ materially from what is discussed on today's call. Cautionary language regarding these forward-looking statements is included in our first quarter 2026 earnings release issued this morning and in other reports we file with the SEC. All of these materials and public filings are available on our investor relations website at camdennational.bank. Camden National Corporation trades on NASDAQ under the symbol CAC. In addition, today's presentations include a discussion of non-GAAP financial measures. Any references to non-GAAP financial measures are intended to provide meaningful insights and are reconciled with GAAP in our earnings release, which is also available on our investor relations website. I am pleased to introduce our host, President and Chief Executive Officer Simon Griffiths.

Good afternoon everyone and thank you Renee. Earlier this morning we reported strong first quarter results with net income of 21.9 million and earnings per share of 129. Excluding non-core acquisition related items from last year, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS increased 39% year over year in the first quarter of 2026. We are pleased that these results were near our record earnings reported last quarter, reflecting the continued value generated by the Northway financial acquisition and ongoing organic financial improvements across the franchise. Despite macroeconomic headwinds and the seasonal softening we typically experience in the first quarter, These results demonstrate continued progress against our strategic priorities of growing the franchise, operating with discipline, and adapting our capabilities to better serve our customers and communities. Our balance sheet remains a source of strength, supported by strong and building capital levels, reserves that we believe are appropriately aligned with loan quality and solid liquidity. We continue to maintain regulatory capital well in excess of required levels and internal targets with our tangible common equity ratio increasing to 7.64% at quarter's end. Our discipline credit approach continues to deliver strong asset quality with past due loans and non-performing assets remaining at very low levels in the first quarter. Although loan growth was tempered this quarter due primarily to typical seasonality within our markets, we saw continued growth in our home equity loan portfolio, which increased 10.6 million during the quarter. We're encouraged by the continued strengthening of our commercial team, with recent key hires already making meaningful contributions. Our production pipeline reflects healthy customer demand across the markets, even as quarterly balances are impacted by payoffs and seasonality. As we head into the spring and summer months, loan pipelines continue to build, reinforced by the talent added to our commercial and retail teams. As we build commercial capacity, we are deepening engagement with small and middle market businesses and positioning Camden National as a primary banking partner for a full suite of lending and treasury management solutions. Our deposit base reached $5.6 billion at March 31st. representing a 1% increase from the prior quarter. Given the cyclical nature of our deposit flows, we are pleased with this level of growth in the first quarter as it reflects our continued success with our high yield savings accounts and recent wins by our commercial and treasury management teams. We are focused on relationship deposits, attracting deposits through service, convenience, and discipline pricing. Our goal is to build long-term customer relationships not simply pursue rate-driven volume. At the same time, we remain disciplined towards stewards of our capital, and with strong capital levels, we are focused on balancing reinvestment in the franchise with returning capital to shareholders, including through our recently announced share repurchase program and regular cash dividend. We continue to advance our digital strategy by equipping our bankers with practical, time-saving tools. Our internally developed AI platform, Camden IQ, anchors our AI initiatives, which operate within an established governance framework designed to drive productivity while remaining aligned with our moderate risk profile and value-driven, people-centered culture. Recently, we launched PrepIQ, which delivers a real-time, integrated view of customer information across platforms, enabling more informed and productive conversations. LoanIQ, another internally developed tool, further enhances efficiency by streamlining access to loan policy and supporting faster, more consistent decision making. We're encouraged by the rapid adoption and early benefits of these tools. Expanded use of automation continues to improve efficiency and redeploy capacity toward higher value customer interactions, supporting our disciplined approach to expense management. Overall, our first quarter performance reflects the effectiveness of our strategy, maintaining a resilient balance sheet, driving high quality growth, and staying relentlessly focused on delivering value for our customers, communities, and shareholders. We believe we are well positioned for the remainder of 2026. With that, I'll hand over to Mike to provide additional financial details for the quarter.