ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Connect One Bancorp, Inc. first quarter 2026 earnings call. All lines has 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, again, press the star one. I would now like to turn the conference over to Sia Bansia, 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 2026 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 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-cap financial measures Reconciliations of which are provided in the company's earnings release and the company tables or schedules which have been filed today on Form 8K with the SEC 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 good morning, everyone. We kick off 2026 with strong momentum firing on all cylinders as demonstrated by our results. 12 months ago, we detailed our strategic objectives heading into the largest merger in our company's history. I'm pleased to report that we're not only delivering on those goals, we're exceeding initial expectations. Today, our franchise is stronger and better balanced. We diversified our client base and revenue streams, materially improved deposit mix, including core and non-interest-bearing deposits, and diversified our loan portfolio. We scaled the balance sheet from under $10 billion to nearly $15 billion in assets, increased our market capitalization to over $1.4 billion, and built a valuable franchise, accelerating our presence across Long Island. Our geographic footprint now spans the entire New York City metro region and naturally extends to the growing South Florida market. We're positioned for a very strong start to 2026, and we're confident in that momentum continuing for the year ahead. Turning quickly to our first quarter performance, we delivered loan growth, margin expansion, accelerating return metrics, and further increased tangible book value per share. Reflecting our success and confidence in future performance, we opportunistically repurchased shares in the first quarter and increased our common dividend. Bill will provide some more details regarding our financial performance this quarter and our continued confidence in further margin expansion for 2020-26. On the expense side, we remain highly disciplined as we continue to realize merger synergies and steadily return to best in class efficiency levels. To ensure we continue to operate as a top tier efficient bank, this discipline is being further enhanced by our focus on optimizing all systems, products, and services, along with the thoughtful integration of AI across the organization. Working together, these initiatives will drive continued improvement in our expense metrics going forward, while also enhancing scalability as we continue to grow. Our first quarter credit quality remained solid. Net charge-offs declined to a recent low. Our non-approval loan ratio also decreased, while criticized and classified assets remained at historically low levels. However, as disclosed in the earnings release, delinquencies increased due to an isolated client relationship collateralized by 19 multifamily New York City rent-stabilized properties. The client, who we're working closely with, has had a strong track record of payment performance spanning more than five years, and significant portions of the credit remain fundamentally sound. While it may be too early to determine any financial impact, Bill in a minute will review with you the significant reserves we've recorded against the entire rent-stabilized portfolio. Look, we've always been supporters of affordable housing in all the markets we serve. New York City is a somewhat unique market with its rent-stabilized portion of affordable housing. Our interest continues to be to support the owners that work hard every day to provide solutions for all in the greatest city in the United States. Just a reminder, Connect One has a strong track record of successfully resolving situations either through negotiated adjustments to interest rates and payment terms with clients or alternatively through self loans. Next, turning to non-interest income growth, momentum continues to build. Subsequent to the quarter end, we saw accelerating activity in SBA loan sales supplemented by BowFly, and Bill will share some more details on that shortly. Notwithstanding headline economic uncertainties and volatility, we're confident Connect One will deliver sustained long-term value for shareholders in 2026 and beyond. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Bill to walk us through some of our performance in a little bit more detail.