Great Southern Bancorp, Inc.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Great Southern Bancorp Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker for today, Christina Maldonado. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining Great Southern Bancorp's second quarter 2026 earnings call. Today, we'll be discussing the company's results for the quarter ended June 30th, 2026. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that during this call, forward-looking statements may be made regarding the company's future events and financial performance. These statements are subject to various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. For a list of these factors, please refer to the forward-looking statements disclosure in the earnings release and other public filings. Joining me today are President and CEO Joe Turner and Chief Financial Officer Rex Copeland. I'll now turn the call over to Joe.

Okay. Thanks, Christina, and good afternoon to everyone on the call. We appreciate you joining us today. Our second quarter of 2026 results reflect the strength and resilience of our core banking franchise, despite what remains a highly competitive operating environment. Our operating metrics remain sound, supported by disciplined expense management, careful balance sheet positioning, and our ongoing emphasis on relationship-based banking. In the second quarter of 2026, we reported preliminary net income of $15.8 million, or $1.43 per diluted common share, compared to $19.8 million or $1.72 per diluted common share in the previous year quarter. These results were negatively impacted by several one-time expenses related to the planned consolidation of nine banking centers and staffing reductions in other operational areas, which Rex and I will discuss further. For the first half of 26, preliminary net income totaled $33.3 million or $2.99 per diluted common share compared to $36.9 million or $318 per share in the first half of 25. Net interest income in the second quarter totaled $49.5 million down from $51 million in the year-ago quarter. This change from the prior year period was driven primarily by the absence in 26 of $2 million of interest income from a previously terminated swap. Despite this headwind, discipline funding cost management allowed for the expansion of our margin to 376 from the year-ago quarter when it was 3.68. In terms of lending, net loan balances decreased to $148.9 million in the second quarter of 26. This decline is largely reflected of elevated loan payoff activity. The decline was most pronounced in the commercial real estate and construction categories. Compared to December 31-25, net loan balances decreased $49.1 million to $4.31 billion. As emphasized in previous communications, period-to-period loan trends are heavily influenced by borrower repayments and remain difficult to forecast. Our focus remains on discipline originations anchored by conservative underwriting standards. Our broader lending pipeline remains robust with total commitments standing at $1.07 billion at June 30, including $531.5 million in the unfunded portion of closed construction loans. On the funding side, total deposits decreased $180.7 million in the first six months of 26. The majority of this decline, about $88 million, was within broker deposits. reflecting a strategic choice to utilize FHLB borrowing given the pricing pressures within the brokered market. Infra-sparing checking balances decreased about $92 million in the first six months of the year with most of this being in the higher end of the rate of those type of accounts. Increases in non-infra-sparing checking balances roughly offset decreases in our retail time Deposit Portfolio. From a credit quality standpoint, our metrics remain excellent. Total nonperforming assets at the end of the second quarter were 0.17% of total assets compared to 0.15% at the end of the year. We did have a charge off of $909,000 on a multifamily loan transferred to foreclosed assets in the second quarter, which Rex will discuss further. We view this as sort of an idiosyncratic situation. The borrower had certain circumstances that related just to them and we don't view it as a migration of any portion of our portfolio. Expense management remains a top priority for our bank. This focus is evident in our decision to consolidate nine Banking Centers, and eliminate a total of 66 positions across various divisions. Ultimately, we believe this will allow for better alignment with our customers' banking preferences along with our pursuit of operational efficiencies as technology and services evolve. Noninterest expense for the quarter was $38.2 million. However, when excluding the one-time costs associated with the branch consolidation and workforce reduction, noninterest expense was $36.1 million. These one-time costs consist of $1.4 million in asset valuation allowance on four owned locations and $561,000 in severance costs and $163,000 in remaining lease expense for a loan production office, which will close at the end of July. As we move through the balance of 26, we remain focused on protecting asset quality, executing thoughtful operational improvements, and consistently building long-term value for our stockholders. The lending and funding environments remain competitive, but we are navigating this landscape from a position of strength. With that, I'll turn the call over to Rex for a more detailed discussion of the financials.