First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the first Interstate Bank System Inc. 4th Quarter Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in lesson-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star 0 for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, January 30, 2025. I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Nancy Bermelin. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Thanks very much. Good morning. And thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter earnings conference call. As we begin, please note that the information provided during this call will contain forward-looking statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those expressed by those statements. I'd like to direct all listeners to read the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements contained in our most recent annual report, on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, and in our earnings release. as well as the risk factors identified in the annual report and our more recent periodic reports filed with the SEC. Relevant factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements are included in the earnings release and in our SEC filings. The company does not undertake to update any of the forward-looking statements made today. A copy of our earnings release, which contains non-GAAP financial measures, is available on our website at fibk.com. Information regarding our use of non-GAAP financial measures may be found in the body of the earnings release, and a reconciliation to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is included at the end of the earnings release for your reference. Again this quarter, along with our earnings release, we've published an updated investor presentation, which has additional disclosures that we believe will be helpful. This presentation can be accessed on our investor relations website, And if you have not downloaded a copy yet, we encourage you to do so. Please also note that as we discuss our financials today, unless otherwise noted, all of the prior period comparisons will be with the third quarter of 2024. Joining us from management this morning are Jim Reuter, our Chief Executive Officer, Marcie Mutch, our Chief Financial Officer, and David Della Camera, our Deputy Chief Financial Officer, along with other members of our management team. At this time, I'll turn the call over to Jim Reuter. Jim.

Thank you, Nancy, and thank you all for joining us on our earnings call this morning. Before joining First Interstate, I was impressed by the following aspects of the bank, a low cost granular deposit base, a strong presence, brand and market share and attractive high growth markets, a commitment of resources, both people and dollars to communities, which is a differentiator as a community bank and a client centric approach focused on providing best in class service. These are the kinds of attributes that will allow us to focus on and support organic growth. But before we delve into our results for the quarter, let's widen the lens for a moment and outline what you can expect from us going forward. Full relationship banking will be our main focus. We will align incentives with deposit growth, loan pricing, and with new customer acquisition. We will focus on organic growth, and while we will always consider strategic opportunities, You can expect the pace of M&A to decline compared to the past decade or so. We will deploy capital to markets where we have the best opportunity to strengthen our position and gain market share. To that end, we made the decision to discontinue originations with the indirect lending business and will allow this portfolio to amortize over time. This portfolio represents about 4% of loan balances, and approximately 30 to 40% of those balances are estimated to amortize over the next 12 months. This type of lending does not support our goals of generating organic growth through relationship banking, as it is focused on originating loans without corresponding deposit relationships with limited success in cross-selling other bank services. Given the size of our indirect business, along with market pressure and the structure of indirect lending in general, the business has been dilutive to our return targets. As we look to accelerate organic growth in the second half of 2025 and into 2026, we can utilize this cash flow to grow our customer base. This is step one on our transformation journey. There are other parts of the bank we are evaluating with an eye towards a stronger focus on relationship banking, organic growth, efficiency, and return to shareholders. We are excited to work to unlock the underlying value of this franchise, which will include a multi-year strategy with near-term action plans developed to drive long-term value. We will share more at the next quarterly earnings call as we complete our evaluations and obtain full leadership and board support for the proposed changes. I will wrap up my initial comments by saying that I have traveled around our footprint. along with several members of the executive team, listening to teammates in operations and customer facing positions to get their thoughts on how we can better serve our customers and communities. This bank is filled with community bankers who know their communities, have strong relationships, and are ready to go. My first 90 days have convinced me this team has the talent, energy, and work ethic to bring this franchise to its full potential. This, combined with the attributes I just mentioned, Give me confidence. The future is bright at First Interstate Bank. And with that, I will hand the call over to Marcy. Marcy.