WesBanco, Inc.

Good morning, and welcome to the WestBanco Incorporated's first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the start key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to John Ioning.

Please go ahead. Thank you. Good morning and welcome to West Banco Inc's first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. Leading the call today are Todd Claussen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Jackson, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Dan Weiss, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Today's call, an archive of which will be available on our website for one year, contains forward-looking information. Cautionary statements about this information and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures are included in our earnings-related materials issued yesterday afternoon, as well as our other SEC filings and investor materials. These materials are available on the investor relations section of our website, westbanco.com. All statements speak as of only April 25th, 2023, and WestBanco undertakes no obligation to update them. I would now like to turn the call over to Todd. Todd? Thank you, John.

Good morning, everyone. On today's call, we will review our results for the first quarter of 2023 and provide an update on our operations and current 2023 outlook. Key takeaways from the call today are solid financial performance demonstrated by loan growth and discretionary cost control. Key credit quality metrics have remained at low levels and favorable to peer bank averages. We remain well capitalized with solid liquidity and a strong balance sheet with capacity to fund loan growth. And we are well positioned for near-term success while continuing to make appropriate long-term growth-oriented investments. We're pleased with our performance during the first quarter of 2023. We demonstrated the earnings power, capital, and liquidity to perform well amidst a quarter of broader industry volatility driven by financial institutions with different operating models than ours. We reported loan growth while maintaining credit quality and delivered solid pre-tax, pre-provision net income. We diligently managed discretionary costs while making appropriate investments that build upon and enhance our strong markets, teams, and core advantages. And we remain focused on ensuring a strong organization with solid liquidity and a strong balance sheet. For the quarter ending March 31st, 2023, we reported pre-tax pre-provision income of 13.2% year over year and net income available to common shareholders 42.3 million with diluted earnings per share of 71 cents when excluding after-tax merger and restructuring charges. On a similar basis, the strength of our financial performance this past quarter is further demonstrated by our return on average assets of 1.01% and return on tangible equity of 13.5%, and our capital position continues to provide financial and operational flexibility. While Jeff will discuss our loan growth, it's important to highlight the strength of our credit underwriting and overall conservative risk culture. We do not chase loans or take undue risk just to report growth. We're focused on long-term, sustainable growth through all economic cycles. We're achieving our strong loan growth while maintaining our credit standards. Again this quarter, we reported key credit quality measures that continue to remain at low levels and favorable to all banks with assets between $10 and $25 billion. Total loans past due, as the percentage of total loans were 16 basis points, down more than 50% from last year. Non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets have ranged from just 21 to 26 basis points since the first quarter of 2020. Lastly, criticized and classified loans as a percentage of total loans were 1.6%, down 208 and 74 basis points year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, respectively. In fact, this is the lowest level in nearly four years. Jeff will now provide an update on our key first quarter operational topics.