Hope Bancorp, Inc.

Good day and welcome to the Hope Bancorp 2026 Second 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 two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Maxime Olivan, Investor Relations Manager. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Drew. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the Hope Bancorp Investor Conference Call for the second quarter of 2026. 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 the 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 earnings press release. Presenting for management today will be Kevin Kim, Hope Bancorp Chairman, President, and CEO, and Julianna Balicka, and Hope Bancorp Chief Financial Officer. Peter Koh, Bank of Hope President and 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, Maxim. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Beginning with slide three, you will find a brief overview of our results. Overall, we delivered a strong second quarter and made solid progress during the first half of the year in executing against our key operating priorities. Second quarter 2026 revenue of $148 million drove reported diluted earnings per share of 26 cents of 12% quarter over quarter or diluted earnings per share excluding notable items of 27 cents up 17% sequentially from $0.23 in the first quarter of 2026. Year over year, earnings per share excluding notable items were up 40% from $0.19 in the year-ago quarter. On a sequential quarter basis, the strong earnings growth was driven by revenue growth of 5%, net interest margin expansion of six basis points, and positive operating leverage. All our profitability ratios improved while loans and deposits grew. Pre-provision net revenue for the 2026 second quarter totaled $49 million, up 6% sequentially from $47 million in the first quarter of 2026, excluding notable items, which were primarily merger related Second quarter 2026 pre-provision net revenue was $51 million, up 10% from the prior quarter and up 25% year over year. Gross loans increased 2%, or 8% annualized, to $15 billion as of June 30, 2026, and deposits increased 1%, or 4% annualized, to $15.9 billion. Our deposit mix continued to improve with growth in non-maturity deposits more than offsetting a planned decline in time deposits to continue lowering our cost of funds. Moving on to slide four, at June 30th, 2026, our common equity tier one ratio was 12.27% and our total capital ratio was Our capital position is strong and enables us to support organic growth, complete the pending acquisition of the commercial banking unit of SMBC Manubank, and return capital to stockholders. Year to date in 2026, the company returned $45 million of capital to stockholders through cash dividends and common stock repurchases. Year to date in 2026, the company repurchased approximately 773,000 shares of common stock at an average price of $11.25 per share for a total of $9 million, pursuant to its existing $50 million share repurchase authorization. At June 30, 2026, $27 million remained available under the authorization. for providing flexibility for future capital management. Our board of directors declared a quarterly common stock dividend of 14 cents per share payable on or around August 20 of 2026 to stockholders of record as of August 6, 2026. On March 31, 2026, we announced our pending acquisition of the commercial banking unit of SMBC Manubank. We expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. This transaction aligns with our priorities to expand our middle market and multinational banking capabilities, develop specialty deposit verticals, broaden our presence in our core Southern California market, and enhance our balance sheet with quality loans and attractive deposits. Based on June 30, 2026 balances and before-fail value marks, this all-cash transaction is anticipated to add approximately $2.3 billion in loans and $2.6 billion in deposits and result in net cash flowing to Bank of Hope. Expect the transaction to enhance our core earnings and returns on tangible equity and to support efficient capital management. Alongside the Manubank acquisition, we will enter into a collaboration and partnership agreement with SMBC to support the local banking needs of their commercial and retail Japanese customers seeking to do business in the United States. Our partnership with SMBC will broaden our multinational client reach and contribute to differentiate it long-term growth. Continuing to slide five, second quarter 2026 loan growth was led by commercial and industrial lending with additional contributions from commercial real estate and residential mortgage. Overall, loan growth is strengthening. At June 30, 2026, gross loans totaled $15 billion, up 2% quarter over quarter, equivalent to 8% annualized and up 4% year-over-year. On the deposit side, deposits totaled $15.9 billion at June 30, 2026, up 1% quarter-over-quarter, over 4% annualized. Non-interest-bearing demand deposits increased 5% from the prior quarter, and time deposits declined 1%. Compared with the year-ago quarter, non-interest-bearing demand deposits increased 2% while time deposits decreased 2%. Decreases in time deposits have been planned to help improve our deposit mix and lower our funding costs. In addition, we are benefiting from the addition of territorial savings which operate in Hawaii, a market with lower deposit costs. Year-to-date, Our customer retail deposits in Hawaii have grown 6%. With that, I will turn the call over to Julianna to review our financial performance for the second quarter in more detail. Julianna.