Pathward Financial, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Pathwood Financial fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022 investor conference call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Following the prepared remarks, we will conduct a question and answer session. And as a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Justin Shemp, Vice President of Investor Relations and Financial Reporting. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and welcome. Hathford Financial CEO Brett Farr and our CFO Glenn Herrick will discuss our operating and financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter and fiscal year ended September 30th, 2022, after which we will take your questions. Anthony Charette, our president, is currently attending the Money 2020 industry conference this week, and he will be unable to join today's call. Additional information, including the earnings release and a supplemental investor presentation, may be found on our website at passwordfinancial.com. As a reminder, our comments may include forward-looking statements, including with respect to anticipated results for future periods. Those statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual and anticipated results to differ. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Please refer to the cautionary language in the earnings release, investor presentation, and in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commissions including our most recent filings, for additional information covering factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Additionally, today we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures on this conference call. References to non-GAAP measures are only provided to assist you in understanding the company's results and performance trends. Reconciliations for such non-GAAP measures are included within the appendix of the investor presentation. Now, Let me turn the call over to Brett Farr, our CEO.

Thank you, everyone, for joining Pathwork Financial's fourth fiscal quarter 2022 earnings call. I am excited to announce that earlier this month, we unveiled our new corporate brand and launched our new website, Pathwork.com. Our redesigned website highlights the products and services we offer and our commitment to providing a path forward to people and businesses who to reach the next stage of their financial journey. You'll notice we've also updated our investor relations page to provide more information to current and potential shareholders. Turning to our financial results, during fiscal 2022, Athwer generated GAAP net income of $156.4 million, or $5.26 per share, compared to $141.7 million or $4.38 per share in the prior fiscal year. Fiscal year 2022 GAAP earnings per share, including the one-time gain on the sale of our former brand's trademarks, represent an increase of 20% over fiscal year 2021. We are pleased to have achieved a return on average assets of 2.2%, and recorded a return on average tangible equity of 35.4% for the fiscal year. For the fourth fiscal quarter, gap net income was $23.4 million, up $7.5 million compared to $15.9 million in the same prior year period. Earnings per share for the quarter was $0.81 as compared to $0.50 in the prior year. During the fourth quarter, several events transpired that we believe will positively impact PathWords financials going forward. First, the company sold the remaining $82 million of its student loan portfolio. Including the release of the portfolio's reserves and the corresponding loss on sale, the company recorded a net economic loss of $500,000 from the transaction. This sale allows the company to take on additional commercial finance loans as we continue to execute on our core strategic pillar, optimizing interest-earning assets to emphasize higher return assets. Next, in September, we completed a $20 million subordinated debt offering. The proceeds will be used to strengthen our capital levels, allowing for continuous return of capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. Finally, the United States federal government recently passed the Inflation Reduction Act, A key item in this legislation is increased incentives for green energy projects, including solar panels. Pathward is a leading lender in the solar industry, and we believe this legislation will benefit our business going forward. During our last quarter's update, I mentioned the strain on our solar lending volumes due to supply chain issues impacting the industry. As these issues continue to improve, coupled with these enhanced incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act, We anticipate our solar lending volumes could be revitalized in the years ahead. Turning to our commercial finance portfolio, our team continues to deliver strong loan growth. As of September 30, 2022, commercial finance loan balances totaled $3 billion, representing an 11% increase from last year and a 3% increase from the end of the third quarter. With fears of a stagflation economy lingering, we want to reiterate our confidence in our loan portfolio and yields in such an environment. First, rising rates will provide higher yields as our variable loans reprice and new business comes in at greater interest rates. We are starting to see the benefits of the rising rate environment in our yields, especially now that almost all our variable rate loans are through their floors. However, given how quickly and sharply the rates have risen, We expect the full benefit will take some time to be realized. Second, as we move through the credit cycle and companies lose access to their traditional funding sources, we have the opportunity to fill their lending needs and provide a financial path forward for these businesses. In summary, our financial results continue to demonstrate that our optimization strategy will produce outsized returns of capital to our shareholders. Moving into fiscal year 2023, we remain focused on our key strategic pillars of asset optimization, deposit optimization, and operational simplification. With respect to our financial expectations for fiscal year 2023, we are affirming our guidance of 2023 gap earnings per share in the range of $5.25 to $5.75, adjusting for non-recurring items, net of tax, This translates to an adjusted earnings per share between $5.10 to $5.60. We expect to wrap up all rebranding related expenses in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023. In total, we continue to expect rebranding expenses to be between 15 to $20 million. Finally, before I turn it over to Glen Herrick, our CFO, I want to comment on the CFO succession plan we announced today in conjunction with our earnings release. The company has appointed Sonya Tyson, currently Executive Vice President of Governance, Risk, and Compliance, and previously Pathways Chief Accounting Officer and then Chief of Staff, to succeed Glenn as CFO. Glenn and Sonya will work together over the next six months to ensure a seamless transition effective April 30, 2023. The board and I have complete confidence in Sonya to take the reins of CFO given her track record of achievement in her near decade at Pathword. Glenn, on behalf of the entire Pathword team, I want to thank you for your invaluable contributions to the company over the last decade. You played an essential role in building Pathword into a leading banking as a service company while molding a world-class finance and accounting team. I want to personally thank you for your years of experience and your insights and for your help to me as CEO. I, your colleagues, and our board express our sincere appreciation for your efforts and wish you continued success. With that, over to you, Glenn, to provide an overview of our financials.