ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to Connect One Bancorp second quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Sia Vancea, Chief Brand and Innovation Officer. Thank you. You may begin.

Good morning and welcome to today's conference call to review Connect One's results for the second quarter of 2021 and to update you on recent developments. On today's conference call will be Frank Sorrentino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Bill Burns, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The results as well as notice of this conference call on a listen-only basis over the internet were distributed this morning in a press release that has been covered by the financial media. At this time, let me remind you that certain statements and assumptions in this conference call contain or are based upon forward-looking information and are being made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, uncertainties, and known or unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risk factors are more fully discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this conference call are made only of the date of this call, and the company is not obligated to publicly update or revise them. In addition, certain terms used in this call are non-GAAP financial measures, reconciliations of which are provided in the company's earnings release and accompanying tables or schedules. which have been filed today on Form 8K with the SEC and may be accessed through the company's website at ir.connectonebank.com. Each listener is encouraged to review those reconciliations provided in the earnings release together with all other information provided in the release. I will now turn the call over to Frank Sorrentino. Frank, please go ahead.

Thank you, Sid. Good morning, everyone. So 2021 has been marked by the consistent execution of our operating strategy and we're exceedingly pleased with Connect One's strong second quarter financial results. Our performance highlights our commitment to serve our growing client base and our ability to capitalize on a variety of growth opportunities. We entered the year in an uncertain state, and as we saw signs of economic momentum building, we were well positioned to actively participate in the early stages of our markets reopening. Our teams were prepared and took a proactive approach which is clearly demonstrated in our results. This quarter's results were highlighted by record performance, meaningful organic growth in our balance sheet, and record operating metrics. Our pre-tax, pre-provision return on average assets was 2.19 percent. Our tangible book value per share grew another 4 percent for the quarter and is up in excess of 15 percent over the past year. Loans, excluding the PPP, grew by 22% on an annualized basis, and our net interest margin expanded again for the seventh quarter in a row to 3.6%. We continue to build valuable non-interest demand and low-cost core deposit balances, leveraging our relationship banking model as we see an uptick in client activity. We realized accelerated loan growth, especially towards the end of the second quarter and heading into the third quarter, our pipeline remains at record high levels. For the remainder of 2021, we expect annualized double-digit loan growth at favorable market spreads. Beyond our existing pipeline, we continue to pursue attractive opportunities to grow responsibly and expand Connect One's valuable franchise. We've experienced numerous opportunities to support our clients' growth, both in size and in capability. We continue to see opportunities to leverage our client-first sense of urgency culture to attract clients from the largest institutions. And finally, with the uptick in M&A in our markets and beyond, we see an opportunity to capitalize on the displacement that is occurring, primarily by attracting new lenders and thereby attracting new clients and expanding our market. Turning back to our performance, we delivered outstanding metrics, including a high return on tangible common equity, the building of tangible book value per share, and improving even further in our best-in-class efficiency ratio. On the expense side, we remain focused on maintaining our operating efficiency through continued utilization and leverage of our infrastructure. Moving forward, in anticipation of additional growth, we expect some expense growth to accelerate in the second half of 2021. To give you more color on that, we're having increased success in attracting top industry talent. Given the market disruption, specifically from M&A, we're seeing multilayered talent look out to Connect One for opportunities. We're excited about accelerating the growth within, and in some cases, expansion of our footprint. These growth investments will continue to play a critical role in competitively positioning Connect One as a modern financial services company while driving long-term shareholder value. We're also very pleased with the growth of our FinTech subsidiary, Bowfly. Mike Rosman and his team continue to generate traffic through their proprietary products and realize strong momentum on the online business platform. Bowfly has also benefited from its continued involvement in the latest PPP round, generating meaningful fee income from other financial institutions without utilizing ConnectOne's balance sheet. Strategically, the PPP program has accelerated Bowfly further into its marketplace model, as well as expanding its brand presence amongst banks, franchisors, and small businesses. We look forward to further growth from Beaufly, reflecting continued investments in the platform and increased marketing. We also remain committed to several key elements that have contributed to our long-term success, including being disciplined in M&A pricing and stewardship of our shareholders' capital. Over the past two years, our capital and reserves have grown significantly, providing us the flexibility to grow organically, through opportunistic M&A and to increase return of excess capital to our shareholders. Underscoring our solid capital position and our confidence in Connect One's future performance, we view share buybacks as an important component of our capital management strategy. We also recognize that our dividend payout ratio is low, and that, combined with our strong capital generation, gives us flexibility to continue to increase the dividends in future quarters. While M&A remains an important component of our growth strategy, our track record of superior organic growth allows us to remain a financially disciplined acquirer. Before turning the call over to Bill, I'd like to spend a moment discussing our forward-thinking banking model. It's clear that the early investments we've made in technology and our infrastructure allowed Connect One to respond to both the pandemic and our reopening efficiently and effectively. Over the past 15 months, we've seen meaningful shifts towards digital capabilities, and we're continuing to expand our use of technology to service our clients. As Connect One returns to working together in person, I continue to be impressed by our team, including their ability to adapt, their resiliency, and their commitment to our clients and the communities we serve. I'll now turn the call over to Bill to provide a little more detail on the quarter's financial performance. Bill? Okay.