Dime Community Bancshares, Inc.

Good day, and welcome to the Dom Community Bank Shares, Inc. Q4 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in listening mode. After the speaker's prepared remarks, we will conduct a question and answer session. Instructions will be given at that time. As a reminder, this call may be recorded. Before we begin, the company would like to remind you that discussions during this call contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbors provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements, including as set forth in today's press release and the company's violence with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to which we refer you. During this call, references will be made to non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental measures to review and assess operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with the U.S. GAAP. For information about these non-GAAP measures and for reconciliations to GAAP, please refer to today's earnings release. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Stuart Lubow, President and CEO. You may begin.

Good morning. Thank you, Michelle, and thank you all for joining us this morning for a quarterly earnings call. With me this morning, as usual, are Avi Reddy, our Chief Operating Officer and CFO, and also Tom Geisel, our Chief Commercial Officer. Today, I will touch upon the progress we made in 2025 as we executed on all aspects of our strategic plan. I will then touch upon some bank-wide goals for 2026. Tom will talk about the progress we made in building out our commercial banking platform and industry verticals. Avi will then provide some details on the fourth quarter and guidance for 2026. Our core earnings power continues its upward trajectory. Core EPS was 79 cents for the fourth quarter, representing an 88% increase versus the prior year. The growth in EPS was driven by record total revenues of 124 million for the fourth quarter. The NIM was up 10 basis points, and average earning assets were up over $650 million on a linked quarter basis. All our growth has been organic, built by our existing bankers and new hires. As you know, we do not have any purchase county in our numbers that tends to inflate results at banks that have engaged in M&A. Core deposits were up $1.2 billion on a year-over-year basis. Deposit growth has been strong across all our channels. In addition, we have been successful in continuing to drive down our cost of funds and growing our non-interest-bearing DDA to 31% of deposits. As such, we have a core funded balance sheet with a significant liquidity position, which will allow us to take advantage of lending opportunities as they arise. Speaking of loans, we continue to execute on our stated plan of growing business loans and managing our credit concentration ratio, which is now below 400%. Business loans grew over $175 million on a link quarter basis and over $500 million on a year-over-year basis. We were very happy to be able to bring Tom Geisel in in the first quarter of 2025 and have already made great progress in terms of billing out various industry verticals that Tom will talk about more in his remarks. Our loan pipeline continues to be strong and is more than $1.3 billion with a weighted average rate between six and a quarter and six and a half. As we mentioned on last quarter's call, MPAs moved down nicely in the fourth quarter and now represent only 34 basis points of total assets. Wealth and family credit continues to be very strong with zero MPAs. Our capital levels are best in class with a total capital ratio of more than 16%. Disruption in our marketplace remains very high. As you saw, there was another merger transaction where an out-of-state bank bought a local thrift at year end. We were not involved in this transaction in any way. We remained focused on our organic growth strategy and hiring teams. The environment for organic growth continues to be very strong with an extremely target rich environment, and the execution of our strategy is now showing up in our quarterly results. Our Manhattan branch is up and running, and we expect the same for our Lakewood and Locust Valley locations toward the end of the first year. As we look forward to 2026, the momentum in our business continues to be strong, and we are focused on the following. As we have discussed previously, and as Avi will mention in his remarks, we have a significant amount of repricing assets in the next two years, which provides a tailwind for revenue growth. As the loan repricing story plays out, Dyn's inherent earnings power will be displayed. In 2025, we put in place the building blocks to create a more diversified balance sheet and loan portfolio. I expect to see significant growth in both in 2026. As we grow revenues faster than our expenses, we expect to operate at a sub-50% efficiency ratio. Being efficient has always been a hallmark of Diamond, and we expect a return to the sub-50% level in 2026. Lastly, we continue to attract talented bankers who can help us grow core deposits and grow business zones. In conclusion, DIME has clearly differentiated our franchise from our local competitors as it relates to our organic growth. We have an outstanding deposit franchise, strong liquidity, and robust capital, which bodes well for the future, driven by significant loan repricing opportunities over the next two years. I want to end by thanking all our dedicated employees for their efforts in 2025 and in positioning Diamond as the best commercial bank in the New York metro area. With that, I will turn it over to Caller Tom.

Thank you, Stu, and good morning. In my prepared remarks, I will provide some background and color on our commercial banking initiatives. As many of you know, I was part of the leadership team at Sterling that helped transform that balance sheet from $5 billion to $25 billion diversified commercial bank balance sheet. When I began speaking with Dime in the second half of 2024, it was apparent that Dime had a number of strengths that were attractive in recruiting talented bankers. First, an entrepreneurial and growth mindset, which is valued by commercial bankers. Second, the best deposit franchise in Metro New York, both from a cost perspective as well as a growth profile, which can be utilized for funding. Third, The back office was staffed with strong managers who had experience managing larger and more diversified commercial portfolios. And finally, Dime had developed a reputation in the marketplace as a company where talent wanted to work. It was perceived and is perceived as a winner. Even before I started, we outlined a strategy as to which industries and geographies we wanted to strengthen, build out, and focus on. Our goal was to create a platform that had all the industry expertise of a $50 to $100 billion bank, but that operated nimbly like a $15 billion bank with access to senior management and quick decision making. Of note, right around the time I joined, we added a new chief credit officer, Rob Rowe, who was previously the chief credit officer at Sterling. Since I came on board in February, we have added the following capabilities. Fund finance, which is exclusively focused on capital call lines. Lender finance, our focus is on lending to institutions that are focused on business credit. We do not intend to be active on the consumer credit side. Mid-corporate, our focus is on companies that are larger than a typical middle market company. Sponsor finance, our focus is on non-cyclical industries with good risk-adjusted returns supporting sponsors and family offices. Syndications. We added a team to focus on syndicating self-originated loans, allowing us to service larger clients while staying within our established risk tolerances. And lastly, geographic expansion. DIME has always had a dominant presence on Long Island, and we are focused on expanding that to Manhattan and New Jersey. For example, In the fourth quarter, we hired a well-known banker to cover middle market relationships in New Jersey. All of our commercial bankers and industry specialists are focused on direct relationship lending with the occasional club deal to manage our exposure. We're not building a business based on SNICs or participations as many small to medium-sized banks often do. The bankers that we have hired have added significant industry knowledge, and a high level of expertise to Dimes offerings. As we look to 2026, each of these new commercial banking teams will contribute to loan growth and operating leverage. We also have our eyes on one or two industries where we already have a presence, but where we could add some additional depth. With that overview, I'll turn it over to Avi for his prepared remarks.