Hope Bancorp, Inc.

Good day and welcome to the Hope Bank Corp 2025 fourth quarter earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing star then zero on your telephone keypad. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, Please press star then 2. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Maxim Olivan, Senior Strategic Finance Manager. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Drew. Good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining us for the whole Bancorp Investor Conference Call for the fourth quarter of 2025. As usual, we will be using a slide presentation to accompany our discussion this morning, which is available on the presentations page of our investor relations website. Beginning on slide two, let me start with a brief statement regarding forward-looking remarks. The call today contains forward-looking projections regarding the future financial performance of the company and future events. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially. Hope Bancorp assumes no obligation to revise any forward-looking projections that may be made on today's call. In addition, some of the information referenced during this call today includes non-GAAP financial measures. For a more detailed description of the risk factors and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures, please refer to the company's filings with the SEC, as well as the Safe Harbor Statements in our press release issued this morning. We have allotted one hour for this call. Presenting from management today will be Kevin Kim, Hope Bankrupt's chairman, president, and CEO, and Juliana Beliska, our chief financial officer. Peter Koh, our chief operating officer, is also here with us as usual and will be available for the Q&A session. With that, let me turn the call over to Kevin Kim. Kevin?

Thank you, Maxime. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm very pleased to report that we ended 2025 on a positive note with strong earnings growth in the fourth quarter. Beginning with slide three, you will find a brief overview of our results. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 totaled $34 million, up 42% year over year, from $24 million in the year-ago fourth quarter. Quarter over quarter, net income rose 12% from $31 million in the third quarter, driven by growth in net interest income, strength in customer fee income, lower provision for credit losses, and a lower tax expense, partially offset by higher operating expense. Looking back at the year as a whole, we significantly lowered our cost of deposits, reduced our reliance on broker deposits, enhanced our earning assets mix, added experienced senior leadership and talent to support our revenue generating capabilities, and strengthened our asset quality with a steady decrease in criticized loans in each quarter of 2025. We also expanded our banking footprint to the strategically attractive market of Hawaii via the Territorial Bank of Acquisition, which closed in April 2025. In sum, we were able to optimize our balance sheet and meaningfully improve our underlying core profitability metrics. As we look ahead, we are excited about the opportunities in 2026 and believe we are well positioned to continue making progress towards our medium term financial goals. I want to express my sincere appreciation for the dedication of our colleagues at Bank of Hope. Their steadfast commitment to excellence has propelled our organization forward and strengthened our position as the leading regional bank serving multicultural communities across the continental United States and Hawaii. As we navigate the path ahead, I am confident that our collective focus and hard work will drive even greater positive outcomes in the years to come. Moving on to slide four, all our capital ratios increased quarter over quarter and remain well above the requirements for well-capitalized financial institutions. Our board of directors declared a quarterly common stock dividend of 14 cents per share, payable on or around February 20th, to stockholders of record as of February 6, 2026. Our board of directors also reinstated our prior share purchase authorization, which still has $35 million available. Our healthy capital ratios position us to selectively and prudently return capital to shareholders via a share buyback program, while maintaining strong overall capital levels to support growth opportunities and common stock dividends. Continuing to slide five, at December 31st, 2025, gross loans totaled $14.8 billion, up 1% quarter over quarter, equivalent to 4% annualized, driven by broad-based growth across commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and commercial and industrial loans. Year over year, Gross loans are up 8%, largely reflecting the impact of the territorial acquisition and organic residential mortgage growth. Loan production momentum has improved throughout 2025 with fourth quarter 2025 production volumes up 39% relative to the year of a quarter. At December 31st, 2025, Deposits totaled $15.6 billion, up 9% year over year, primarily due to the territorial acquisition, and down 1% from September 30th, largely due to typical fourth quarter fund movements in certain commercial clients, which normally return in the first quarter of the year. Our strategy is centered on building a durable deposit base by expanding primary customer relationships and improving funding efficiency through thoughtful mix management and pricing discipline. In 2025, we continue to reduce our reliance on broker deposits, which declined 15% year over year. Overall, we are pleased with the progress we are making in strengthening the organization. Our continued investments in people and capabilities reinforcing disciplined growth, expanding our banking franchise, and deepening client engagements as we broaden our market footprint. With that, I will ask Juliana to provide additional details on our financial performance for the quarter. Juliana?