ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.

Thank you for standing by. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Connect One Bancorp Inc. second 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'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. I'd now like to turn the call over to Sia Vincia, Chief Brand and Innovation Officer. Please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome to today's conference call to review Connect One's results for the second quarter of 2024 and to update you on recent developments. On today's 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, 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 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. We appreciate everyone joining us this morning. Navigating through the second quarter of 2024 with our commitment to playing offense, we delivered on our stated objectives. Supporting our clients remained the top priority for Connect One. As I've often reiterated, our relationship banking business model has allowed us to strengthen and expand our client base, enter new markets, and grow across various sectors. This discipline philosophy also played a role expediting the exiting of non-relationship business in the first half of this year. Reflecting this commitment, Connect One's second quarter results were solid, and we believe are in the early stages of an upswing. This position is further bolstered by the tailwinds forming in our industry, which include the expectation for lower short-term rates combined with improved market liquidity and recent cyclical rotation into regional banking. With that said, let's take a closer look at our recent operating performance. Driven by the efforts of our team and our dedication to the objectives we outlined at the start of the year, we're seeing continued deposit growth from both existing clients as well as through the continued onboarding of new clients across New York, New Jersey, and our Florida markets. We're optimistic that this trend will continue throughout the remainder of the year. Bill will walk us through some additional details in a few minutes. I'd like to note that while reported deposits remained flat, client deposits increased, while broker deposits decreased. Turning to lending, quarterly origination levels are continuing at an annualized run rate in excess of a billion dollars, with C&I accounting for nearly half of that production. Notwithstanding the strong origination volume, our loan portfolio decreased sequentially, reflecting higher than usual paydowns and payoffs. This was driven by our strategy to actively manage non-relationship loans off our balance sheet, and is intended to not only improve our loan-to-deposit ratio, but also enhance our loan mix. Our credit metrics remained healthy, and for the quarter, non-accrual loans declined, while our criticized and classified loans, as well as our delinquencies, remained quite low. Next, during the quarter, we saw an increase in our net interest margin, which widened by eight basis points sequentially, and looking ahead, We expect continued net interest margin expansion. Bill, of course, will cover this in more detail. We continued momentum in driving sources of non-interest income and seeing improvements in a number of areas, including both lie in our SBA platform. In addition, we also foresee potential future fee income opportunities through our lending platform. We expect this momentum to continue as we invest in each of these areas. As of June 30th of 2024, our capital and our tangible book value per share increased once again, continuing to build capital flexibility along with a fortified balance sheet. Additionally, we declared a cash, a quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents a share that will be paid in early September. And with a common dividend payout ratio currently below 40%, we believe Connect One's dividend remains well positioned. So in summary, we remain deliberate and methodical in our approach to navigating through a challenging time, all while remaining committed to our clients. Our discipline is paying off, and we believe we are just beginning to see those benefits. I'll now turn it over to Bill, who'll give us a little more depth and some color on our results.