CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc.

Hello and welcome to the Cross First Bank Shares first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw from the question queue, please press star, then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Heather Worley, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome to Cross First Bank Shares' first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. I'm Heather Worley, Director of Investor Relations of Cross First Bank. Before we begin, please be aware this call will include forward-looking statements, including statements about our business plans, expansion and growth opportunities, and our future financial performance. These comments are based on our current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. Our forward-looking statements are as the date of this call and we do not assume any obligation to update or revise them except as required by law. Statements made on this call should be considered together with the risk factors identified in today's earnings release and our other filings with the SEC. We may refer to adjusted or non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures can be found in our earnings release. These non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be a substitute for or superior to financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our presentation will include prepared remarks from Mike Maddox, President and CEO of Cross First Bank Shares, Randy Rapp, President of Cross First Bank, and Ben Clough, CFO of Cross First Bank Shares. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, our operator, MJ, will facilitate a Q&A session. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mike, who will begin on slide four of the presentation available on our website and filed with our earnings release with the SEC.

Mike? Thank you, Heather. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss Cross First's first quarter 2023 operating results. It has certainly been an interesting start to the year, but I always look forward to this opportunity to share an update on Cross First performance, as well as offer a preview of what's to come in the year ahead. I cannot be more proud of how our team has navigated the challenging environment. We entered 2023 with a theme of optimization. Our goal this year is to build on our solid foundation and maximize the investments we have made to benefit our clients and our shareholders. We continued our momentum from 2022 into the first quarter, producing strong earnings, expanded margin, growth in our capital, and improvement in our credit quality against a challenging backdrop. We maintain a diversified balance sheet with significant liquidity to withstand market volatility. In terms of first quarter 2023 financial performance, We reported $17.3 million in adjusted net income for $0.35 per share. We are fortunate to have an experienced team of bankers and leaders, and I am extremely proud of the way they have managed through the recent turmoil within our industry with a focus on serving our clients and continuing to build franchise value. We have a history of financial stability and a responsible risk management mindset. These sound fundamentals have served us well since our bank was founded and will continue to guide us into the future. We are well capitalized with ratios above regulatory requirements. As a sign of support and confidence in our company, last quarter we issued $17.8 million in a private preferred stock offering. The preferred shares were primarily purchased by our board and executive team to further strengthen our capital ratios. We are so fortunate to have a diversified client base of depositors and borrowers consisting of successful businesses and professionals within the markets we serve. This customer base has been built over 15 years based on relationship and trust, which has proved invaluable over the last several weeks. We operate in high-quality metro markets such as Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City, Phoenix, and most recently Denver and Colorado Springs. We believe our presence in these markets will strengthen our financial profile for continued success. We have had several significant accomplishments this past quarter as we continue to leverage the investments we have made in technology, our processes, and in the development of our people. In March, we completed the final step in our Colorado and New Mexico integration as we combine the strengths of our technology and people. As we look to the rest of the year, we will be thoughtful about how we allocate our capital with the expectation that our loan growth will moderate from first quarter levels. Due to the economic environment, we will hold to our credit standards and we will remain true to our relationship-based banking philosophy. We are very cognizant of the continued economic uncertainty as the Fed pursues its goal of reining in inflation. Maintaining great asset quality remains our number one priority, and it will not be compromised to facilitate growth. We are only as good as our people and our culture. The success we achieve as an organization is directly connected to our teammates and their developments. which is why I'm honored to share with all of you that we were recently recognized by Gallup as a 2023 Don Clifton Strengths-Based Culture Award winner. This award is recognition of all the extraordinary work that our employees do each day to embrace our strengths-based culture. With increased pressure on retaining top talent, this award is a strong indicator that we are investing in the right areas, especially in our people. We know there continues to be a dynamic economic environment, but regardless of what may happen outside of our control, I am confident in our team's ability to deliver extraordinary service and help our clients while building franchise value. And now I'd like to turn the call over to our president of Cross First Bank, Randy Rapp.