Medallion Financial Corp.

and welcome to the Medallion Financial Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on a touch-tone phone. 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 Val Ferraro, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good morning. Welcome to Medallion Financial Corp's fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call. Joining me today are Andrew Murstein, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Anthony Catrone. Executive Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer. Certain statements made during the call today constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Those risks and uncertainties are described in our earnings press release issued yesterday and in our filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements made today are as of the date of this call, and we do not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. In addition to our earnings press release, you can find our fourth quarter supplement presentation on our website by visiting medallion.com and clicking Investor Relations. The presentation is near the top of the page. With that, I'll turn it over to Andrew.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. 2025 marked a record year for Medallions. with solid performance across our core financial metrics and operating segments. As compared to the fourth quarter and full year 2024, we reported increases in net interest income, net income, originations, and portfolio size, reflecting the strength of our platform and consistent execution across our business lines. Loan demand remained healthy, credit performance was solid, and our results demonstrate our ability to continue scaling the business profitably while maintaining discipline. Across the portfolio, we continued to execute effectively with meaningful contributions from our recreation, home improvement, and commercial lending lines. Total loans reached $2.567 billion. and total originations came in at $421 million for the fourth quarter and $1.5 billion for the full year, increases from both the same quarter last year and year over year. These results reflect a focused operating approach and our ongoing commitment to prudent growth across the platform, which I will now walk through in further detail. I'll start with consumer lending, our largest and most profitable business lines. which continues to anchor our performance with interest income of $74.5 billion for the quarter and $289.9 million for the year, growing 5% as compared to the same period of last year and 8% year over year. Within the consumer lending segments, the REC loan book grew 5% to $1.6 billion at December 31, 2025, representing 63% of our total loans. Originations for the quarter grew to $97.2 million compared to $72.2 million a year ago, and interest income rose to 6% to $54.2 million. Delinquencies of 90-plus days were just 0.82% of gross recreational loans, and the allowance for credit losses is 5.32% to reflect expected seasonal and economic dynamics as compared to 5% a year ago. The home improvement loan book stood at $810.2 million at December 31, 2025, representing 32% of our total loans. Originations for the quarter was $61.7 million versus $82.5 million last year. Delinquencies of 90-plus days were just 0.16% of gross home improvement loans, and the allowance for credit losses was 2.41% compared to 2.48% a year ago. Importantly, we are originating loans to individuals in these niches that have strong credit quality, with average FICO's on new originations now $688 for recreational and $779 for home improvement. The vast majority of our book falls within super prime to near prime, which has moved up over the years. Moving on to our commercial segment, which continues to deliver meaningful equity gains, We had new originations of 4.1 million during the quarter compared to 7.3 million the same quarter a year ago. However, for the year, total originations were 40.6 million compared to 14.3 million in 2024. The portfolio increased to 123.1 million from 111.3 million last year with an average interest rate of 14.22% compared to 12.97% a year ago. Additionally, as of December 31st, we had more than two dozen equity investments with a book value of just $8.1 million on our balance sheet. These equity components are a result of our long-term strategic investments, and while the timing of exits is inherently unpredictable, we remain confident in our pipelines. During the quarter, gains from equity investments were strong, generating $8.8 million of income. For the year, gains from equity investments generated $24.6 million. Our strategic partnership program, whereby we earn an origination fee and about three to five days of interest on holding loans before selling them back to the partner, had its second straight quarter of over $200 million of origination. reaching a record level of $258.3 million this quarter. Total loans held as a quarter end under the Strategic Partnership Program were $15.1 million. Most of these loans outside of rec and home improvement are mostly offered as employee benefits by large employers on loans for unplanned or elective medical procedures. Although this program represents a small part of fees and interest generated from Medallion Financial, It has reduced approximately $1.8 million in income this quarter and $5.4 million for the year. It has more than doubled from the prior year, and it has expanded each quarter, representing a further diversification of our income sources. We continue to work on our growing pipeline of new partner prospects and expect to add new partners over time. Furthermore, we are taking a very methodical approach to growth to ensure we continue to do it the right way. Lastly, regarding our legacy taxi medallion business, we collected 2.5 million of cash during the quarter, which resulted in net recoveries and gains of 1.4 million. For the full year, we collected 13.6 million of cash, which resulted in net recoveries and gains of 4.6 million. Net taxi medallion assets declined to just 4.3 million, and now represent less than two-tenths of a percent of our total assets. From a capital allocation perspective, we remain committed to our shareholders. During the quarter, we paid a quarterly dividend of 12 cents per share and continue to allocate a large portion of our earnings to growth. We continue to prioritize a disciplined origination strategy, prudent balance sheet management, and effective capital deployment while expanding our portfolio. Our approach is highly analytical and data-driven, supported by advanced digital tools that help optimize writing, origination, servicing, and overall portfolio visibility. These capabilities allow us to assess risk with precision and maintain consistently strong performance across operating environments. Ending the year with positive momentum and solid execution across our business lines, we believe we are well positioned to build on this performance to continue delivering consistent, favorable risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders. One last item I wanted to touch on before turning the call over to Anthony is my transition into the CEO role, which took effect on January 31st. As I step into this new role, I would like to have a few minutes to discuss our 2026 strategy. Our focus for 2026 is to build upon the strong foundation established over the past 30-plus years while further refining our strategic priorities. We aim to continue to grow our core business lines by targeting sustained growth in our recreation segment. In addition, we believe there is significant growth potential within our home improvement line. As a result, in recent months, we added experienced talent to support increased growth and originations in this line with the goal of continuing to expand the portfolio. Our commercial lending segment also remains a strong contributor to earnings, with the average interest rates increasing to 14.22% this year. At the same time, our strategic partnership program continues to be a rapidly growing component of our business. While per-loan origination fees and interest income associated with this business remain modest due to the short term the loans remain on our books, originations continue to expand meaningfully quarter over quarter, and we see great potential in this business over the next several years. We remain thoughtful and disciplined in evaluating new business lines and growth opportunities. We will continue to assess adjacent markets where we believe we can expand the business in a creative manner, consistent with our standards and return objectives. Looking ahead, I am proud of where the company stands today and confident in the foundation we have built together. While we recognize that market conditions may evolve, our strategy remains clear and consistent, execute with discipline, allocate capital thoughtfully, and maintain a long-term perspective focused on sustainable value creation. Our proven business model, diversified portfolio, and experienced management team provide both resilience and flexibility. We continue to evaluate opportunities to optimize our returns, improve margins, and pursue strategic initiatives that align with our core competencies. At the same time, we remain committed to prudent risk management and maintaining a strong balance sheet to support future investments. I believe the company is well positioned to perform well in the years ahead. We are confident in our ability to navigate changing environments and deliver consistent, attractive returns for our shareholders. With that, I'll now turn it over to Anthony, who will provide some additional insight into our quarter.