Southside Bancshares, Inc.

and 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during a session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hands raise. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Lindsay Bales, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Victor. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Southside Bank Share's fourth quarter and year-end 2024 earnings call. A transcript of today's call will be posted on southside.com under Investor Relations. During today's call and other disclosures and presentations, I'll remind you that any forward-looking statements are subject to risk and uncertainties. Factors that could materially change our current forward-looking assumptions are described in our earnings release in our Form 10-K. Joining me today are Lee Gibson, CEO, and Julie Schamburger, CFO. First, Lee will share his comments on the quarter, and then Julie will give an overview of our financial results. I will now turn the call over to Lee.

Thank you, Lindsay, and welcome to today's call. For the year ended December 31, 2024, net income increased $1.8 million to $88.5 million, and earnings per diluted common share increased 9 cents to $2.91 when compared to 2023. Linked quarter, our net income increased $1.3 million to $21.8 million, and earnings per share increased 3 cents to 71 cents. During the fourth quarter, loans increased 83.5 million or 7.3% annualized, most of which occurred during December. Linked quarter average loans decreased 9 million due to early fourth quarter payoffs and late fourth quarter loan growth. Linked quarter, our net interest margin decreased 12 basis points due to faster prepayments on the premium mortgage-backed securities resulting from the lower long-term interest rate environment in the third quarter, hedge-related interest rate adjustments and amortization, and the decrease in average loan balances. As long-term interest rates neared their highs during the last 30 days, we restructured approximately $120 million of the premium mortgage-backed securities portfolio which should reduce amortization volatility for this portfolio and increase the overall average yield. Hedge-related net interest income volatility during the fourth quarter should moderate during 2025 due to the restructuring of the mortgage-backed securities portfolio and the anticipated slower pace of Fed interest rate change. Our loan pipeline is healthy, and for 2025, we are budgeting mid-single-digit loan growth. These changes, along with the late fourth quarter loan growth and a return to a positively sloped yield curve, result in positive net interest margin expectations during 2025. Loan quality metrics remain solid, the markets we serve remain healthy, and the Texas economy is anticipated to grow at a faster pace than the overall projected U.S. growth rate. Our wealth management and trust areas are experiencing nice growth resulting from strategic hires during the last 18 months, and we anticipate revenue increases in this area in 2025 of at least 16%. I look forward to answering your questions, and we'll now turn the call over to Julie Schamberg.