The Bancorp, Inc.

Good day and welcome to the fourth quarter 2021, the Bancorp, Inc. earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star then one on your touchtone telephone. If anyone should require assistance during the conference, please press star then zero to reach an operator. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would like to turn the call over to Andrea Spiroslav. You may begin.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for the Bancorp's fourth quarter and fiscal 2021 financial results conference call. On the call with me today are Damian Kozlowski, Chief Executive Officer, and Paul Frankel, our Chief Financial Officer. This morning's call is being webcast on our website at www.thebancorp.com. There will be a replay of the call beginning at approximately 12 p.m. Eastern time today. The dial-in for the replay is 855-859-2056 with a confirmation code of 739- Before I turn the call over to Damien, I would like to remind everyone that when used in this conference call, the words believes, anticipates, expects, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risk and uncertainty, which could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated or suggested by such statements. For further discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see the Bancorp's filings with the SEC. Listeners are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date hereof. The Bancorp undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Participants may discuss non-GAAP financial measures in this call. Copy of the Bancorp's press release containing financial information... Other statistical information and a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is attached to the Bancorp's most recent current report on Form 8K available at our website under Investor Relations. Bancorp's other SSE filings are also available through this link. Now I'd like to turn the call over to the Bancorp's Chief Executive Officer, Damian Kozlowski. Damian?

Thank you, Andres. Good morning, everyone. In the fourth quarter... The Bancorp earned $27 million in net income, or 46 cents per share, from 7% year-over-year revenue growth and 3% expense growth. Interest income was flat, reflecting the impact of CRE prepayments, while non-interest income increased 21% year-over-year, reflecting the impact of fees resulting from those prepayments. Total loan balances, excluding loans at fair value originally generated for sale, grew 41% year-over-year and 19% quarter-over-quarter. Balance growth year-over-year was led by institutional banking, which includes securities and insurance, back lines of credit, and registered investment advisor financing, with a 28% increase in balances. Quarter-over-quarter growth was led by new real estate bridge lending balances at 83% growth, institutional 7%, and leasing 3%, while SBA decreased slightly as a result of prepayments. Gross dollar volume from our cards business grew 11 percent year-over-year, with payment-related fees approximately flat. For the full year of 21, GDV grew 12 percent, even with the net impact of non-recurring stimulus and government payments in 2020. Our diluted EPS for 2021 was $1.88, exceeding our upward-adjusted guidance for the year of $1.78 by 10 cents a share. With the many challenges of 21, we kept focused on executing our strategic agenda which we expect will drive long-term growth and innovation for our company. Even with a challenging interest rate environment, we were able to maintain stability in our net interest margin in 2021. Our balance sheet continues to show significant loan growth and new product innovation. For example, our relaunched commercial real estate business exceeded our expectations and closed approximately $622 million of new floating rate loans. And new products in our institutional wealth management business results in a significant loan growth and the maintenance of the net interest margins, unlike many of our competitors. We also continue to invest in our FinTech platform to create an ecosystem we believe is second to none in the industry. Our pipeline of new relationships and new products continues to grow with significant new implementations expected for 2022. Some of these relations have been announced previously, but we expect others will be announced as new programs come to market this year. In addition, We continue to focus on controlling expenses and better productivity while making significant investments in growth. For the full year of 2021 compared to our prior year, our total expense base grew only 2%, and we will continue to be rigorous in creating value by finding new ways to be better organized and efficient through the use of enhanced technology, tools, and training. Lastly, we continue to see tailwinds that should drive continued growth in 2020 to earnings and beyond. We are also issuing earnings guidance for 2022 of $2.15 per share, which excludes the net impact of share buybacks and the impact of rate increases. In addition, our board increased the amounts we may spend to buy back our common stock to $15 million a quarter in 2022 from $10 million a quarter in 2021. I now turn the call over to our CFO, Paul Frankel, to give more details about the second quarter.