Northwest Bancshares, Inc.

Thank you for standing by. My name is Kayla and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Northwest Bank Shares Inc. 3Q2024 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, again, press star and 1. I would now like to turn the call over to Joseph Canfield, Executive Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer. You may begin.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you, operator. Welcome to Northwest Bank Shares' third quarter 2024 earnings call. Joining me today are Louis Torchio, President and CEO of Northwest Bank Shares, Inc., the holding company for Northwest Bank. Douglas Schauser, our Chief Financial Officer, and TK Creel, our Chief Credit Officer. During this call, you'll refer to information included in the supplemental earnings release presentation, which is available on our investor relations website. This presentation includes our forward-looking statements and other data, including non-GAAP measures. Please note that actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements made today, October 29th, 2024. These statements will not be updated after today's call, Thank you, and now I'll hand it over to Lou.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss our quarterly results. We delivered solid returns, and I'm pleased with our core financial performance, which Doug will cover momentarily. I'm particularly pleased with our NIM expansion, quarter-over-quarter revenue growth, and continued improvement in our efficiency ratio. This clearly demonstrates that we are delivering on prior commitments made. Though modest, we continue to see deposits rise, even with the near best-in-class cost of funds. In addition, we continue to see positive results from the security portfolio restructure executed last quarter, which continues to positively position Northwest for the upcoming quarters and years ahead. I want to thank every team member for their talent and dedication in producing these results. I'm proud of your hard work and focus on our customers and communities. I'd like to take a moment to discuss the increasingly dynamic M&A environment within our markets. As previously stated, Northwest and our board are steadfast in our commitment to responsible growth, both organically and through acquisitions. I'm in frequent discussion with other bank leaders and investment bankers positioning Northwest advantageously for future opportunities. Our leadership team remains dedicated to enhancing our performance, thereby strengthening our financial standing and bolstering our acquisition potential. Finally, as we have for the past 120 quarters, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I'm pleased to declare a quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share to our shareholders of record as of November 8, 2024. Now, it's my pleasure to introduce Doug Shosser, Northwest Bank's Chief Financial Officer, who will take us through our financial results.