ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.

operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Connect One Bancorp Inc. First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. If you would not like to turn the conference over to Sia Bansha, Chief Brand and Innovation Officer, you may begin.

Good morning and welcome to today's conference call to review Connect One's results for the first quarter of 2024 and to update you on recent developments. On today's conference call will be Frank Sorrentino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Bill Burns, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I'd also like to caution you that we may make forward-looking statements during today's conference call that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations are detailed in our SEC filings. The forward-looking statements included in this conference call are only made as of the date of this call and the company is not obligated to publicly update or revise them. In addition to 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 and schedules, which have been filed on Form 8K with the SEC and may also be accessed through the company's website. I will now turn the call over to Frank Sorrentino. Frank, please go ahead.

Thank you, Sia, and I appreciate everyone joining us this morning to discuss ConnectOne's first quarter performance. We entered the first quarter firmly on the offensive, and despite the backdrop of a challenging landscape, we remain dedicated to our relationship banking model. The efforts of our team, the investments we've made in our future, and our unwavering commitment to our clients is paying dividends and demonstrating the strong forward direction. As you've heard me emphasize before, supporting our clients is Connect One's top priority, an approach that has consistently proven effective and has enabled us to expand our banking relationships, grow in the number of verticals, and expand into new markets, while also reducing exposure to non-relationship businesses. Through the aligned efforts of our entire team, we began to see an increase in deposits in the fourth quarter of last year, and that momentum is continuing during this first quarter. We're optimistic that this trend will continue throughout the year. Bill will get into this future, but the sources of deposit growth include building our C&I client list, our recent entry into the Long Island market, and the ongoing expansion of our presence in Florida. As for the loan portfolio, we continue to see opportunities from our existing clients, particularly in the C&I and construction verticals, and we've begun to manage non-relationship loans off the balance sheet. These actions are intended to improve our loan-to-deposit ratio and lower our CRE concentration. Shifting to net interest margin, we're already seeing a gradual expansion in our net interest margin ahead of Fed rate cuts. And as Bill will cover in more detail, our NIM showed a favorable trajectory during the first quarter. Turning to credit, several important credit quality metrics improved during this first quarter. Non-accrual loans declined. Criticized and classified loans continue to decrease, and delinquencies remain very low. These efforts all reflect our longstanding high credit standards, our relationship-based client philosophy, and our track record of avoiding riskier subsegments, such as the New York City office, which represents just 1% of our total loans, and New York City regulated, where the exposure is less than 5%. In terms of capital, Our regulatory ratios remain well above required minimums, and our tangible common equity ratio was 9.25% at the quarter end, affording us the flexibility to repurchase stock during times of slower growth. We expect to continue repurchases under the current operating and economic environment. Those who follow us closely know we've had an excellent track record in growing tangible book value, and once again, our tangible book value per share increased during the first quarter, and is up over 5.5% from a year ago. Additionally, reflecting the confidence in our future profitability and a solid capital base, we're pleased to announce a one cent increase in our cash dividend to 18 cents a share. This is our fifth dividend increase since 2021, and our board of directors will continue to evaluate future dividend increases in the future. Supporting our focus on driving growth, we continue to hire high performing talent adding to an already experienced team of bankers here at Connect One. This is nothing new for us, as we've always taken an opportunistic approach to talent acquisition and the shifts in our market and among the competitors that provide lucrative opportunities for us. I'm also pleased to note we're seeing compelling opportunities for non-interest income growth, including within our Bullfly platform. The platform continues to onboard new franchisor brands while expanding the use of its Hallmark product, BeVerify, through the company's franchisee base. As we look ahead, we continue to explore opportunities to build that ecosystem around the needs of franchisees. In summary, I'm pleased to report the company delivered a good start to the year, both financially and operationally, and we believe Connect One is well-positioned to execute on our long-term objectives. So with that, I'll turn it over to Bill to give us a little bit more depth and some color on the results. Bill?