Hancock Whitney Corporation

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Hancock Whitney Corporation's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this call may be recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Ashley Wilshire, head of investor relations. You may begin.

Thank you and good afternoon. During today's call, we may make forward-looking statements. We would like to remind everyone to carefully review the Safe Harbor language that was published with the earnings release and presentation and in the company's most recent 10-K and 10-Q, including the risks and uncertainties identified therein. You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statements made by Hancock Whitney speak only as of the date on which they were made. As everyone understands, the current economic environment is rapidly evolving and changing. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for joining us. are also posted with the conference call webcast link on the investor relations website. We will reference some of these slides in today's call. Participating in today's call are John Hairston, President and CEO, Mike Achary, CFO, Chris Ziluca, Chief Credit Officer, and Shane Loper, Chief Operating Officer. I will now turn the call over to John Hairston.

Thank you, Ashley, and thanks everyone for joining us today. The second quarter of 2026 was another strong quarter of profitability, efficiency, and return of capital to shareholders. We were pleased to add solid balance sheet growth on both sides of the ledger to an already excellent quarter. Focusing on the second quarter, on a linked quarter annualized basis, loans grew 10% and deposits 8%. As shown on slide 9 of our investor deck, loan production was strong and line utilization improved. Growth was spread across every line of business excepting mortgage. Our guidance for the full year remains unchanged at mid-single digit growth. For deposits, the 8% annualized growth was related to an increase in interest-bearing money market accounts of $786 million, partially offset by a slight decline in CD balances from maturities in the quarter. We've updated our guidance for deposits from low single to mid-single digit growth for the year. Profitability, efficiency, and returns continued to perform very well with a 1.42% ROA, efficiency ratio of 55.3%, and ROTCE of 14.9%. Top-line revenue continued to cover significant offensive reinvestment, and net interest margin improved modestly while substantially funding loan growth with core deposits. Expenses were well managed as nearly all our expense growth was due to the full quarter impact of robust banker additions in Q1, and Merritt increases to our overall team in April. We were pleased to secure regulatory and shareholder approval in July for the One Florida Bank transaction, with an expected closing date of August 1st. Mike will add additional comments in his remarks, but I will note we have updated our guidance on page 20 to provide fiscal year 2026 outlook, both excluding and including One Florida. In both cases, the second half of 26, guidance reflects a continuation of high profitability, strong capital, and continuing growth. Regarding capital deployment, our stated priorities remain in capitalizing a growing balance sheet, supporting dividends, and completing the current 5% authorization by the end of this year. We are very pleased here at halftime of 2026 to see very solid performance and growth in alignment with our goals. We are very excited to welcome our new colleagues and clients from One Florida in only 10 days, augmenting our profitability and growth story. With that, I'll invite Mike to add additional comments.