First Financial Bancorp.

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's conference call to discuss First Financial Bank's fourth quarter and full-year financial results. Participating on today's call will be Archie Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jamie Anderson, Chief Financial Officer, and Bill Harrod, Chief Credit Officer. Both the press release we issued yesterday and the accompanying slide presentation are available on our website at www.bankatfirst.com under the Investor Relations section. We'll make reference to the slides contained in the accompanying presentation during today's call. Additionally, Please refer to the forward-looking statement disclosure contained in the fourth quarter 2024 earnings release, as well as our SEC filings for a full discussion of the company's risk factors. The information we will provide today is accurate as of December 31, 2024, and we will not be updating any forward-looking statements or flight facts or circumstances after this call.

I'll now turn the call over to Archie Brown. Thanks, Scott. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's call. Yesterday afternoon, we announced our financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings. Before I turn the call over to Jamie, I would like to provide some highlights from the most recent quarter recap this year's exceptional performance. I'm very pleased with our strong fourth quarter. Adjusted earnings per share were 71 cents, leading to return on assets of 1.7% and return on tangible common equity of ratio of 19.9%. As expected, due to decreases in short-term rates by the Fed, the decline in asset yields outpaced the decline in deposit costs, leading to a reduction in our net interest margin to 3.94%. Balance sheet trends were very strong for the quarter, with loan growth exceeding 7% on an annualized basis and total deposits surging by approximately 16% on an annualized basis. Non-interest income was robust in the fourth quarter, with leasing, foreign exchange, and wealth management income all increasing by double-digit percentages from the linked quarter. While expenses increased by 5% from the linked quarter, the increase was driven by higher incentive compensation tied to the strong fee income and overall company performance. Our workforce efficiency initiative continued during the quarter, and we've eliminated 145 positions to date. We expect to complete this work in 2025. Asset quality was relatively stable for the quarter. Non-performing assets were flat compared to the linked quarter at 0.36%. while classified assets increased by seven basis points to 1.21%. The increase in classified assets was driven by the mutually agreed upon termination of a foreign exchange trade, resulting in a $45 million obligation from the customer, which we believe is fully collateralized. We expect the customer to pay this obligation in 2025. Net charge-offs were slightly elevated due to the resolution of three loans that have been longer-term workouts. We believe that overall credit trends are improving, and as a result, we anticipate lower credit costs going forward. 2024 was an excellent year for our company. On an adjusted basis, we earned $249 million, or $2.61 per share, while return on assets was 1.4%, and return on tangible common equity was 19.9%. While the net interest margin declined from 4.4% to 4.05%, Due to declining short-term rates, strong loan growth offset most of the impact, with net interest income declining by only 2.5%. Non-interest income increased by more than 13% to a record $241.8 million, led by growth in leasing and wealth management income. The result was record revenue for the company of approximately $854 million, which was a 2% increase over 2023. I'm very pleased with our balance sheet growth for the year. Total loans increased by 7.6% to 11.8 billion, and total deposits increased by 7.2% to 14.3 billion. Additionally, tangible common equity increased by 56 basis points to 7.73%, and tangible value per share increased from $12.38 to $14.15, which was a 14% increase. Similar to fourth quarter, asset quality was relatively stable for the year. Net charge also as a percentage of average loans declined three basis points to 30 basis points. And non-performing assets as a percent of total assets declined by two basis points to 0.36%. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Jamie to discuss these results in greater detail. After Jamie's discussion, I will wrap up with some additional forward-looking commentary and closing remarks. Jamie?

Thank you, Archie, and good morning, everyone. Slides 4, 5, and 6 provide a summary of our most recent financial results. The fourth quarter was highlighted by strong earnings and a net interest margin that exceeded our expectations, as well as both loan and deposit growth. Our net interest margin remains very strong at 394, despite a decline of 14 basis points from the linked quarter. Deposit costs declined 13 basis points during the period, while loan yields decreased 37 basis points. Loan growth exceeded our expectations during the quarter, coming in at 7% on an annualized basis. The growth was not concentrated in one particular area. It's C&I, ICRE, mortgage, and leasing all having strong quarters. Average deposit balances increased $543 million, or 16%, on an annualized basis. We had broad-based growth across all product types, excluding savings accounts and high-cost brokered CDs. We maintain 21% of our total balances in non-interest-bearing accounts and are strategically focused on growing lower-cost deposit balances. Turning to the income statement, fourth quarter fee income was solid led by foreign exchange, leasing, and record wealth management income. Non-interest expenses increased slightly from the linked quarter due to higher incentive compensation, which was tied to fee income and our overall company performance. However, the impact from our efficiency initiative is becoming more meaningful, and we expect to see further benefits in the coming period. Our ACL coverage decreased four basis points during the quarter to 1.33% of total loans. This resulted in $9.4 million of provision expense during the period, which was driven by loan growth and net charge-offs. Overall, asset quality trends were stable. NPAs as a percentage of assets were relatively flat at 36 basis points, while fourth quarter net charge-offs were 40 basis points on an annualized basis. This put our year-to-date total in line with expectations at 30 basis points. Classified assets increased 7 basis points to 1.21% of total assets as a single asset offset an otherwise strong quarter of resolution efforts. From a capital standpoint, our ratios are in excess of both internal and regulatory targets. Tangible book value was $14.15, while a tangible common equity ratio was 7.73%. Slide seven reconciles our GAAP earnings to adjusted earnings, highlighting items that we believe are important to understanding our quarterly performance. Adjusted net income was $67.7 million, or 71 cents per share, for the quarter. Non-interest expense adjustments exclude the impact of efficiency costs, tax credit investment write-downs, and other expenses not expected to recur. As depicted on slide 8, these adjusted earnings equate to return on average assets of 1.47%, a return on average tangible common equity of 20%, and a pre-tax, pre-provision ROA exceeding 2%. Turning to slides 9 and 10, net interest margin declined 14 basis points from the linked quarter to 3.94%. Asset yields declined 31 basis points compared to the prior period, as loan yields declined 37 basis points, and the yield on the investment portfolio increased 4 basis points. Offsetting these increases, total funding costs declined 17 basis points from the linked quarter, as deposit costs declined 13 basis points, while average deposit balances increased 4%. Slide 11 outlines our various sources of liquidity and borrowing capacity. We continue to believe we have the flexibility required to manage the balance sheet through the expected economic environment. Slide 13 illustrates our current loan mix and balance changes compared to the linked quarter. Loan balance has increased 7% on an annualized basis with growth in almost every portfolio. As you can see on the right, growth was driven by C&I, leasing, ICRE, and mortgage. Slide 14 provides detail on our loan concentration by industry. We believe our loan portfolio remains sufficiently diversified to protect us from deterioration in any particular industry. Slide 15 provides detail on our office portfolio. Similar to last quarter, about 4% of our total loan book is secured by office space, and the overall portfolio metrics remain strong. One office relationship was downgraded to non-accrual during the quarter, and our total non-accrual balance for this portfolio is approximately $26 million. Subsequent to year end, the remaining balance of this relationship of $9 million paid off. Slide 16 shows our deposit mix, as well as a progression of average deposits from the linked quarter. In total, average deposit balances increased $543 million during the quarter, with increases in most core product types. There was a seasonal increase in public fund balances, while on the consumer side, growth was concentrated in money markets and retail CDs. Slide 7 illustrates trends in our average personal, business, and public fund deposits, as well as a comparison of our borrowing capacity to our uninsured deposits. On the bottom right of the slide, you can see our adjusted uninsured deposits were $3.7 billion. This equates to 26% of our total deposits. We remain comfortable with this concentration and believe our borrowing capacity provides sufficient flexibility to respond to any event that would stress our larger deposit balances. Slide 18 highlights our non-interest income for the quarter. Total fee income was $70 million during the quarter with Bannockburn and Summit having strong quarters while wealth management posted record results. Non-interest expense for the quarter is outlined on slide 19. Core expenses increased $6 million during the period. This was driven by higher incentive compensation, which is tied to fee income and the company's overall performance. As I mentioned earlier, we are recognizing more of the expected benefit from our ongoing efficiency initiative and expect to complete this work in 2025. Turning now to slides 20 and 21, our ACL model resulted in a total allowance, which includes both funded and unfunded reserves, of $174 million and $9.4 million of total provision expense during the period. This resulted in an ACL that was 1.33% of total loan. Provision expense was primarily driven by loan growth and net charge-offs, which were 40 basis points for the period. However, about half of those charge-offs have been reserved for in prior periods. Additionally, our NPAs to total assets held steady at 36 basis points. In other credit trends, classified asset balances increased to 1.21% of total assets. The largest driver of this increase was related to a single asset that was recorded following the mutually agreed-upon termination of a foreign exchange transaction. Excluding this item, classified assets declined $27 million during the quarter. Our ACL coverage decreased slightly. However, we continue to believe that we have modeled conservatively to build a reserve that reflects the losses we expect from our portfolio. We anticipate our ACL coverage will remain relatively flat or increase slightly in future periods as our model responds to changes in the macroeconomic environment. Finally, as shown on slide 17, 22, and 23, capital ratios remain in excess of regulatory minimums and internal targets. Absent the impact from AOCI, the TCE ratio would have been 9.39% compared to 7.73% as reported, and our tangible book value decreased slightly to $14.15. Our total shareholder return remains strong, with 35% of our earnings returned to our shareholders during the period through the common dividend. We maintain our commitment to provide an attractive return to our shareholders, and we continue to evaluate capital actions that support that commitment. I'll now turn it back over to Archie for some comments on our outlet. Archie?